The New Kid
by Xx Falcon's Eye xX
Summary: Akari is a girl from the real world, or at least she thinks she is. Sucked into the Naruto world will she realize she's more than just a normal kid? Mainly GaaOC Summary sucks. My 1st fanfic! Some pairings might eventually change. T for language
1. The Beginning part 1

**Hi everyone! **

**Miss me?! No?! Wouldn't be surprised…**

**I know you're all probably pissed at me for not doing ANYTHING with the story for like… EVER! But… I'm finally putting chapters up!! XD You guys deserve it.**

**Hope you like it!**

Chapter 1

Akari's POV

Hi, I'm Akari. I'm six years old and I live in a big school!. I live here with a lot of kids my age and some older kids too. I'm in Kindergarten.

It was Monday morning when it happened. It was the weirdest day of my whole life! …So far! The older kids say I say that a lot. I guess they're right. Weird stuff happens to me a lot…

I was lying in bed on Monday morning. It was September, I think.

"Beep! Beep! Beep!" Rang my alarm clock.

My eyes slowly slid open and I stared over at the clock. It read 8:45. I couldn't tell time yet, but I knew I was supposed to be at the cafeteria when the clock said 8:30.

I was gonna be late!!

"Oh man!" I shouted, jumping out of bed. "I-I'm late!!" !" I threw my blanket onto the floor and ran to the door.

My roommate was already gone. Man, did I not like my roommate. She was bossy and mean. And she smelled. I had missed breakfast twice this week because my roommate kept unplugging my alarm clock. Like I said, she's mean.

I ran into the hallway and almost slammed into the wall. Then my shoulder started hurting.

"Ow!" I shouted. I pulled up my sleeve and tried to see if I could see anything wrong with it. The only thing I could see was the scar-looking mark I'd had for as long as I could remember. The nurse called it a 'birthmark'. Nothing looked weird about it, until it started glowing.

'Huh?!' I thought as I ran into the cafeteria. "Sorry I'm late Mr.—" As I pushed the doors open, all I could see was a white light. By the time I had stopped, I was already passed the door.

My throat started to hurt and so did my stomach. I started coughing and I felt like I couldn't breath. I closed my eyes and everything seemed to disappear.

"C-cant…" I whispered, "Can't… BREATH!!"

* * *

Normal POV

Inside a fairly large white room, an old man sat at his desk. A woman and two men stood in front of him. The man's head was resting on the back of his hands and his eyes were closed.

A silver haired man had just finished explaining something to him.

"Kakashi, are you sure this will work?" the old man asked. This man was called the Hokage .

"Positive," the silver haired man replied. He wore a green vest and dark blue pants. He had a mask covering his face and a headband covering his left eye as well. "But…"

"But what?" The Hokage said, opening his eyes.

"Well," The silver haired man continued, "its just… how will we know she's the one we're looking for?" There was an awkward silence.

"We won't know until the Chunin exams, when she can show us her true power… Of course, it could take longer." The Hokage replied. "We just have to be patient." The Hokage paused and pulled out an old file from his desk. He handed the file to the silver haired man. The man opened the file and read it over carefully.

"I see." He said. The Hokage nodded.

"Exactly." He said. "Kakashi, we need to do this now."

The silver haired man, Kakashi nodded. He, the other man—a brown haired man with a small beard—and the woman—a dark haired lady with red eyes—walked to the middle of the room.

"Asuma, Kurenai, are you ready?" The Hokage asked.

"Yes sir!" The other man and the woman replied in unison.

"Alright you three get ready…" The Hokage said. He stood up and walked over to the three of them. They stood in a diamond formation.

"Let's just get this over with." The man named Asuma said. Kakashi and the woman named Kurenai nodded. They turned to their Hokage and nodded to him as well.

Together, the four of them performed a large number of hand signs and knelt down.

"Isou(1)" They exclaimed in unison. A huge cloud of smoke filled the room.

"D-did we do it?" Kurenai asked, covering her mouth with her arm. Asuma groaned.

"I…uh, don't know," He said as the smoke began to settle, "I think…"

Suddenly, a small cry of shock and fear rang out. Kakashi tried to blow some smoke out of the way using his hand. It helped a bit.

When the smoke settled enough to see, the three adults found something they were—and weren't—expecting; sitting in the middle of them was a small girl. She looked to be at least six or seven years old. She had brownish hair and her eyes were squeezed tightly. Her arms were over her head in fear.

What the girl wore is what really caught them off guard; she wore a pair of loose purple pajamas with smiley faces all over them. She was also barefoot. And her hair seemed a little messy, as if she'd just woken up.

The little girl coughed and whined. "Wh-what's going on?" She exclaimed, still not opening her eyes. "Wh-where am I?!"

Akari's POV

Well this has been the worst week ever! First my roommate makes me late like… a lot! Then she starts a food fight and blames it on me, and now I just… I don't even KNOW what happened, but it was freaky!! And to top it all off, I'M IN MY PJ'S!! This week keeps getting better and better!

"Ah," An old man said, "Welcome!"

"H-huh?!" I said loudly. I opened my eyes wide and looked around. There was an old man in a… white bath robe looking thingy, a man with a funky silver hair do and a mask, a guy with spiky brown hair and a beard—and he smelled like smoke… well, more than I did—and a lady with dark hair and red eyes. It was a little creepy.

But I felt like I knew these people! Like I'd seen their faces before! And then I remembered!

"How do you know my name?!" I exclaimed. The man that smelled like smoke took a step forward.

"Hey kid, you ok?" He asked, taking another step towards me. I think I freaked out. I could tell I was shaking. I mean, come on! I was in my pajamas!!

All I did was look up at him. He seemed bigger than in person. And when he got closer, so did the smell. I put my hand over m nose without thinking…

"Hey…" The lady said to me. When I didn't say anything, she looked over at the old man. "She looks a little flustered."

The old man laughed. "I'm not surprised." He said. The old man walked over to me and bent over. "My name is Sarutobi." He sighed. "I'm the Hokage. You're in Konoha now."

"K…Konoha…?" I whispered. "Wh…what's th-that?" The old man laughed again. I didn't like to be laughed at. "Wh-what's so funny?!"

"It's nothing." The 'Hokage' said. "Konoha is the 'Leaf Village'. It's a shinobi—or ninja—village located in the Fire country." He paused. "There are all sorts of villages and countries all over the place."

I felt my eyes widen. "N-ninja?!" I shouted. "Like… masks and those star thingies?!" The Hokage smiled.

"Yes, in a way." He said. "We've brought you here from your world."

At first, I didn't realize what he meant.

"So am I gonna be a ninja?" I asked.

"Maybe someday." The Hokage said. He turned to the other three grown-ups. "Now, I'm going to explain some more things to Akari here," He paused, looking down at me.

I still wanted to know how he knew my name!!

"So can the three of you go and get her stuff from the other dimension?" The Hokage asked. The three of them nodded; the old man nodded back. "Alright then, Akari, care to join me in the hall?"

I gulped. The Hokage offered me his hand and I grabbed onto it. It was all… wrinkly and stuff.

"How'd you know my name?" I asked. The old man smiled.

"Why don't we save all the questions for after the… 'tour'?" He asked. I crossed my arms and gave him a 'hmph'. The old man laughed again. "Ok, let's go."

I grabbed his hand loosely and the Hokage led me into the hallway.

* * *

The reason I thought I kinda knew the old man was because of what happened one day back home. One of the older boys' computers apparently broke and he went into the library to use theirs. I was also at the library that day. I… uh… kinda spied on him. He was one of the older kids that was nice to me!

Anyway, the boy was watching a video on the… In-ta-net. I can never get that word right! But I think that was it. The boy was watching a video… and when I saw old man Hokage, I recognized him from the video!

The boy eventually caught me and then explained what he was watching. It was a show called… '_Naruto_'. After he was done on the computer, he told me he had some _Naruto _stuff he didn't want anymore. So he let me have them!

He gave me cards, pictures, and these books called 'manga'. Even though I couldn't read, the pictures were still cool.

After the old man Hokage had finished talking with me, he walked me over to a big building. It had a big squiggly thing on a big sign hanging over the door.

"This is the Konoha Academy." The old man said. "This is going to be where you go to school." I looked up at him and smiled.

"Cool." I said. "Am I going now?" The old man shook his head.

"No," He said. "You'll go a little later. I'm going to show you your new apartment first."

Wait, did he just say apartment?

"Huh?" I said. The old man started walking again, I followed.

"You're getting you own place." He said.

"All to myself?!" I shouted. He nodded. "Cool!" I shouted. The old man laughed.

"I guess it is!" He said. I was sure I'd like it here!

* * *

My apartment building wasn't far away from the school—or the Hokage's place either. It wasn't a big building, but it wasn't small either. But I liked it.

I was in room 1-12. I found this really funny, 'cause that's my birthday! January 12th is my birthday(2)! When I told the Hokage, he only laughed.

The Hokage led me to the elevator and then we walked to my new room—1-12. When we got there, the old man pulled a shiny black key out of his pocket and slipped it into the doorknob hole. He pushed the door open and we walked inside.

My room was so cool! Sure, it was white… and dusty, but it was bigger than my old room! Or at least without the furniture it was. But I liked it anyway. I smiled and ran into the room, ignoring the dust. The old man followed a few seconds behind me.

The first area I ran into was what I thought was the kitchen. It was a small kitchen; it had one of those counters that separate the kitchen from the rest of the room. I had a fridge, a dishwasher, a sink, an oven, and a stove.

Apparently the old man noticed the oven and stove when I did, because when I saw them and walked over to them, he caught me by the shoulder.

"Why don't we leave them for when you're older?" He said. I smiled and nodded. Then I skipped out of the kitchen and walked down a small hallway.

On the right I found a small bathroom. It—like everything else—was white and dull looking. I was really hoping the Hokage would do something about that.

On the left I found another room. This one was like the building itself—not too big, not too small. I didn't know what room this was, but I had a few ideas—play room, TV room… training room…

The old man walked in after me as I ran into the room. "So what's this gonna be?" I asked. The old man walked over to the far wall and looked out the large window.

"It's your apartment now," He said, "What do you want it to be?" I smiled as I looked around.

"How about…" I began, "A training area!" The Hokage seemed a little surprised. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing." The old man said. "Training room it is."

Suddenly, I heard a knock on the door. The Hokage walked out into the main area of my new apartment and opened the door. Next thing I knew, a few grown-ups wearing shiny metal and masks came into my apartment. They were carrying boxes and a few bags.

"Uhh…" I began, "Jiji-san(3)?" I began. Old man Hokage gave me a weird look. "Who're they? And what's with the stuff?"

The old man walked over to me and patted me on the head. "They've brought you some of your old stuff." He said, "And some new things you'll need here—and some stuff they found in your world."

I bought it. As long as it meant _stuff_.

"Ok." I said. I walked into the hallway and into the main room. There were four grown-ups: A woman and three men. I couldn't see them clearly; they all wore masks. But I could see a little bit of their hair. They all had darkish hair… except for one person.

This man—he looked like he was the youngest of all of them by the look of his body—had bright orange hair. He was sitting next to my NEW SCREEN DOOR.

Wow! I have a screen door! WITH a balcony!!

Whoa, am I getting off track…

Anyway, the grown-ups were all unpacking different things: the woman was unpacking some clothes—some that I noticed were new—one of the men was unpacking what looked like weapons, but looking more carefully, I saw that they were like plastic, another man was unpacking a thin laptop—probably found in the library—what looked like a purple iPod—'YES!!' I thought—and a silver cell phone. I didn't know when this stuff would come in handy when I'm going to be a ninja, but I wasn't going to tell them that!

The man with the orange hair was unpacking a box filled with a few books and two large binders. I felt my palms get sweaty; he was unpacking my _Naruto_ cards and manga!!

I gulped as he flipped open one of the manga books. I couldn't see his face, which made me even more nervous. I think the old man Hokage noticed this too, 'cause before long, he said something to the orange haired man.

"I think Akari would like to go through that stuff herself." He said. The orange haired man looked up and nodded.

"Yes sir." He said. I walked over nervously and began putting the stuff back in the box.

"I kinda wanna leave this stuff in here for now…" I said. The orange haired man nodded.

"Fair enough." He said. He placed a gloved hand on my head and stood up—without using my head.

The Hokage suddenly took a deep breath. "Well, Akari, shall we head to school?" He asked. I blinked and looked back down at my stuff. "You can finish up when we get back. Tomorrow you're going to get your furniture… and paint, so I wouldn't unpack much today.

I smiled and nodded. "Ok, jiji-san." I think I saw the old man twitch… maybe.

And with that, the orange haired man suddenly grabbed my arm and gently lifted me to my feet. I grabbed the Hokage's arm and he led me out the door—smiling.

* * *

Konoha Academy.

I felt a little awkward.

"Ok class, we have a new student." A man said. He wore a green vest—by now I'd seen a lot of people with green vests—and he had spiky brown hair that was tied in a ponytail. The man's name was Umino Iruka, I later learned. "Everyone say hello." Iruka-sensei said. He looked over to me. "Her name is Akari." Iruka-sensei told the class.

"Um, hi..." I said nervously. I stared at the class. Most people I didn't know, but I could recognize a few faces. And their clothes were so… weird!

Luckily I'd gotten to change before I came to the school. All I wore was a purple T-shirt and a pair of black sweat pants. Oh yeah, I also put on my tennis shoes at the last minute too.

"Ok Akari," Iruka-sensei continued, "take your seat. I'm putting you next to Naruto." He pointed to a boy with blond hair.

"Thanks, Iruka-sensei." I said, walking over to the boy. He had his arms crossed and he was leaning on his desk

I sat down next to him and my face felt hot. I didn't know why! But then, he looked over at me.

"Ok class, today we will be working on the transformation jutsu." Iruka-sensei said. I gulped and raised my hand nervously. "Yes Akari?" Iruka-sensei said, pointing to me. I looked down.

"Um, what if we don't have chakra?" I asked. The class started laughing. "Its not funny!!" I shouted, looking around and blushing furiously.

"You don't have chakra?" Iruka-sensei asked, scratching his head.

"J-just forget it..." I said. Iruka-sensei sighed and turned around. I slammed my head onto my desk and moaned.

Suddenly, I felt a small tap on my shoulder. I looked over at the blond boy. He smiled at me and I saw he had a pencil in his hand.

'Am I gonna sit next to the annoying kid?!' I thought. The boy looked up at the front of the class to see if Iruka-sensei was looking, then he started to talk to me.

"So you're the new kid, huh?" He asked. I nodded. He smiled. "That's cool."

"Naruto!" Iruka-sensei shouted from the front of the class. He was turned towards us again. "Stop talking!"

Naruto grunted. When Iruka-sensei turned back around, the boy turned to me again.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto." He whispered. "You're Akari, right?"

Again, I nodded. He—Naruto—smiled again.

"It's nice to meet you, Akari-chan." He said. Suddenly, he laughed quietly. "Ya know… I'm gonna be Hokage someday!"

"NARUTO!!" Iruka-sensei shouted again obviously mad. Naruto gulped. I slammed my head into the desk again to try not to laugh.

* * *

The bell rang for lunch. I walked out of the academy and headed over to a nearby playground. I noticed the other kids playing there too. "Hey guys!" I shouted.

"Hey, Akari!" A boy called. "Come play tag with us!"

"Ok! Hold on!" I shouted. I ran towards the kids and noticed a Naruto sitting on the swings. I slowed up and walked towards him. "Um… hi again!" Naruto looked up at me.

"Hey, what's up?" He asked… kinda sadly.

"Nothin' much," I began, "Iruka-sensei's pretty funny, don'tcha think?"

"Hey! Akari!" The boy from before shouted. "C'mon!" I turned towards him and waved.

"Ok!" I called. "Hey, can Naruto play?" I asked. The kids took one look at Naruto.

"No." A girl said plainly. I stopped smiling.

"Why?!" I asked. I couldn't believe it!

"Because, now c'mon!" Another boy called. I made a fist.

"No!" I shouted. "What's wrong with HIM?" The girl scrunched her nose up.

"He's a freak!" She shouted. I looked at Naruto again. He sighed. "My daddy says I'm not allowed to play with him anyway.

"Look, do ya wanna play or not?" The first boy asked. I closed my eyes.

"No way!!" I shouted. Naruto's eyes went wide. I smiled at him.

"They're so stupid." I said. I admit, I was angry. I looked at Naruto, and then sat on the swing beside him. "Naruto-kun…" I began, "wanna be my friend?" I asked.

Naruto seemed surprised. "Won't the other kids make fun of you?" He asked. I shrugged

"I don't really care." I said.

"Really?" He asked. I nodded.

"Yep." I said, smiling. "I don't really have any friends here anyway… So why not?!"

Naruto laughed. "Dattebayo!!"

**There's the first chapter. God, I had to become a 6 year old all over again… that was annoying.**

**Translations/Stuff:**

**(1) Isou—Transfer**

**(2) 1-12 is my b-day too. 1/12/95… ehe… ^__^'**

**(3) Jiji-san—'jiji' means 'old man'**

**Please review and tell me how it was so far!!**


	2. The Beginning part 2

_Last Time:_

"_They're so stupid." I said. I admit, I was angry. I looked at Naruto, and then sat on the swing beside him. "Naruto-kun…" I began, "wanna be my friend?" I asked._

_Naruto seemed surprised. "Won't the other kids make fun of you?" He asked. I shrugged_

"_I don't care." I said._

"_Really?" He asked. I nodded. _

"_Yep." I said, smiling. "I don't really have any friends here anyway… So why not?!" _

_Naruto laughed. "Dattebayo!!"_

Chapter 2

Normal POV

In the academy, the class waited anxiously to hear which squad they were to be placed in. Iruka stood in the front of the class, clipboard in hand.

"Dude! This is awesome!" Someone from the back of the class shouted.

"Yeah, I know!" A girl squealed.

"I don't care which squad I'm in," Another boy added, "just don't put me with Naruto. That's all I ask."

Naruto sat in the front row with his arms crossed. He let out a soft 'hmph'.

"Ok class," Iruka began, "As you all know, you'll all be getting your squads today." Naruto slammed his head into the desk.

'This is gonna take forever!' He thought.

Iruka continued, "Squad 1 is…"

Naruto listen patiently for his name to be called. As each team was called, they left the room. Finally, 9 rookies remained.

"Squad 7," Iruka said; Naruto lifted his head up. "Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, and Sasuke Uchiha."

"Oh great…" Naruto whispered. "I'm with mister tough guy…" He glanced over at Sasuke. "But I'm with SAKURA-CHAN!!"

Sakura groaned loudly.

"Squad 8," Iruka continued, "Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame, and Hinata Hyuga. Squad 10: Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi, and Ino Yamanaka."

As the others were getting into their squads, Naruto noticed that Iruka had forgotten something.

"Um, Iruka-sensei?" Naruto asked.

"Yes Naruto?" Iruka said, turning towards him.

"You skipped squad 9!" Naruto exclaimed. Iruka blinked. Then, he scratched the back of his head.

"I di—" He began. Then he stared at the floor. "Oh! So I did!" He finally said. "Thanks Naruto. Squad 9…" Iruka looked around and pouted. "Oh great… Has anyone seen Akari?"

Naruto looked around; his brown-eyed friend was nowhere to be found. Suddenly, a soft giggle came from the ceiling.

"Right here sensei!" Akari exclaimed. Iruka and Naruto looked up, startled. Akari was hanging from the ceiling. "I finally mastered my chakra control!"

Iruka was… well, 'astonished' would be an understatement. "Wha…?!" He exclaimed. "H-HOW?!"

Akari laughed. "I told'ja I was good!!" She shouted, hands on her hips. Suddenly, there was a soft ripping noise coming from the ceiling. Akari's eyes widened and she blinked. "Uh…" She began, looking up at her feet, "Aww crap…"

Iruka gave Akari a weird look. Then suddenly, they both screamed. "Ah—!" Akari fell right on top of Iruka.

"Ooooww…" Akari muttered, rubbing her head. Iruka was lying on the ground under her, moaning. "S-sorry sensei…"

"Wh-what was that?!" Iruka suddenly shouted. He sat up quickly and looked at her feet.

Iruka sweatdropped and slapped his forehead. Naruto ran over to see what happened. When he saw, he bust out laughing—Akari had duct tape wrapped all over her shoes.

"Ahaha!!" Naruto laughed loudly. "Akari-chan!!"

Akari stood up, scratched the back of her head, and blushed.

"Ehe…" She began, looking back down at Iruka. "Wh-whoops…?"

"Akari!!" Iruka screamed, jumping up. "What have I told the two of you about doing stuff like that?!" Naruto stopped laughing.

"Why am I in this all the sudden…" He muttered, pouting and walking away slowly.

Akari looked down. "Sorry, Iruka-sensei…" She muttered. "But… I thought it would stick!" She looked back up at the ceiling; there were still pieces of tape stuck to it. "A kid in my class said it would work!"

Iruka pinched the bridge of his nose. "Oh God…" He whispered. Akari cleared her throat.

"Ssssoooo…" She began, "Am I getting a team?" Iruka brushed himself off and walked over to where his clipboard had flown. He picked it up, brushed it off, and flipped a few pages.

"Well, Akari," He began, "You're squad… squad 9 consists of…" He paused, "You."

"J-just me?!" Akari exclaimed. "Are you sure you didn't make a mistake?"

Iruka crossed his arms. By now everyone had left the building. "Have a seat, Akari." He said. Akari sat down in her usual seat—next to Naruto's in the front of the room.

"Wh-what's going on?" Akari asked. Iruka walked over and placed two folders onto Akari's desk. She raised an eyebrow. "What're these?"

"These," Iruka began, "Are your… teammates… profiles." Akari beamed.

"HUH?!" She screamed. Iruka sighed, leaning on the desk with both hands.

"Yes." He said. "But unfortunately, both of them aren't going to be able to meet you for a little while."

"Why not?" Akari asked. Iruka opened the first folder and pointed to a picture of a young girl. The girl had blond hair and red eyes. "I thought there was only one girl on each team…?" Akari said. Then she added, "Which is totally sexist, by the way."

Iruka laughed. "Yes, I know." He said, "But," He opened the other folder to reveal a girl with blue hair and pink eyes. "These girls are from different teams."

"…" Akari was quiet. "Ya lost me." Iruka laughed again.

"Ok," He said, flipping back to the blond girl. "This girl here, her name is Hideki Kasumi." He paused. "She was part of a team a few years ago that went through the Chunin Exams. But," He paused. "She didn't want to do it. So someone else who wanted to take the Exam took her place." He looked up at Akari, trying to see if she was following.

Akari only nodded. Iruka nodded back. "I think I'm following." Akari said. Iruka went back to the blue haired girl's folder.

"Her name's Hisako Yuki." He said. "She was also from a different team—"

"A few years ago?" Akari tried to finish. Iruka shook his head.

"No," He said. "She was actually put in a squad last year." He paused. "Even though she was younger than you—like Kasumi—she graduated early."

Akari nodded again. "Ok." She said.

"Yuki's group went on a mission a few months ago," He continued, "And she was hospitalized—"

"What for?!" Akari suddenly cut in.

"I'm not sure exactly." He said, "But it wasn't for anything major, I heard." He paused. "Anyway, her team eventually went into the Chunin Exams as well, and—being in the hospital—they had to leave her behind." He paused again. "So it'll be you, Hideki Kasumi, and Hisako Yuki."

"Oh…" Akari said. "Ok… I guess." Iruka stood up and sighed.

"Fair enough." He said. Akari handed him the folders and stood up. "Thank you." Iruka said. "Oh, and… the Hokage wants to see you."

* * *

"Lord Hokage?" Akari shouted as she banged on the Hokage's door. "Ya wanted to see me?" Akari heard a few people talking and then silence.

"Come in." The old man said. Akari slowly opened the door and peeked inside. Inside the office were Anko, Ibiki, two ANBU members, and Ebisu.

"What's all this about?" Akari asked.

"We have a mission for you…" Ibiki began.

"We've noticed that you've been running out of clothes." A female ANBU black op said. Akari's eye twitched.

"D-did you just say… WE?!" She shouted. "What do you mean by WE?!" The other ANBU black op, a male, laughed.

"When you first arrived six years ago," He began, "It was four of us. But now, it's only the two of us, and when you graduate, none of us."

Akari was still a little freaked out. "O-oh." She said. The man laughed. Akari suddenly noticed something she hadn't seen for quite a long time: orange hair.

Well he did say 'we', so probably he was one of the men from years ago. Akari thought that over a few times in her head.

"Anyway," The woman continued, "We were thinking—because you've gotten older and require things more… uhh… mature than some of the stuff Konoha has to offer in the market—you should go back to your dimension and get some stuff for yourself."

Akari freaked. "WHAT?!" She screamed. "I'm going BACK?!"

"It's only to get some stuff!" Anko screamed. The Hokage pinched the bridge of his nose.

"And what if I get caught?!" Akari shouted back. Anko threw a little piece of paper at Akari. "What's this?" She asked. It was a small yellow paper with a black seal on it. Akari also noticed that the seal was shaped like the birthmark on her arm.

"If you get caught, just force your chakra into this and you'll be able to come back." Anko said, a little less annoyed this time.

"Oh…" Akari said. Anko, Ibiki, the two ANBU black ops, and the Hokage walked to the middle of the room and started to perform several different hand signs.

"Get ready!" The Hokage shouted. Akari's eyes widened as the world seemed to spin away from her. She felt her stomach flip as colors began flashing in front of her face.

"Aah!!" Akari screamed. "I remember this!!" She gasped loudly. "NOT AGAIN!!"

* * *

Akari gasped as her eyes flew open. She bolted upright and looked around. She was sitting in a dusty old room with pink wallpaper. Akari rubbed her eyes and moaned.

"Craaaap…" She groaned. "It actually worked…" Akari leaned back and crossed her arms behind her head. "I don't wanna get up…"

Suddenly, Akari heard footsteps coming from outside the room. She groaned, jumped up and pressed herself against the door.

"…Yeah, I can't believe the place's gonna be condemned." A man said.

"Well, ever since that young girl disappeared six years ago, the place has kinda gone downhill." Another said. The first man sighed.

"What ever happened to the kids?" He asked.

"Most went to another orphanage." The second man said, "And the rest—the older ones—went to some high school somewhere."

The first man let out a 'hmph' and Akari heard the doorknob click.

'Shit!' Akari thought. She grabbed onto the knob and tried to keep it from turning. She could hear the man struggle to get the knob to turn.

"Give it up, man." The second man said. "Most of these doors are locked anyway." The doorknob stopped moving.

"Yeah, guess you're right." The first man said. "So when're they tearing this place down again?"

"In…" There was a slight pause. "Three hours, actually."

Akari gulped. 'I gotta get outta here soon…' She thought. She listened until the men had gone and—slowly—she opened the door and tiptoed out of the room. "Well that was close…" She whispered.

Then, Akari took a piece of paper out of her pocket. It was a small list of things she might need—suggested by Anko. Looking at the list, Akari decided to just wing it. After all, she didn't need 'a katana, four extra large shuriken, and arm pads'. Heck, she could just get them at home!

* * *

After and hour and a half, Akari felt she was ready to go. She had clothes and other necessities, more _Naruto_ cards, an iPOD gift card—her iPOD had worked for six years in another dimension, so surely the gift card would work—some books and manga—other than _Naruto_—a new backpack, and a pair of tennis shoes.

"I think this about does it!" Akari exclaimed, running back to the orphanage. She dug into her pocket and pulled out the yellow paper. "I wonder if I can only use this in the same place I landed…"

Akari stopped at a crosswalk and studied the small paper. Then she looked around. As if she was going to do it here! Shaking her head, Akari kept running until she reached the large white building.

"So this old place is goin' down, huh?" She whispered, standing outside, just looking at the place she once called home. "Whew… guess… it's kinda my fault… heh…"

Akari walked through the door and flipped on the lights. Only one worked. Akari sighed and walked down the white-floored hallway. The light kept flickering on and off, making it difficult to see clearly.

Akari took a few deep breaths as she walked. She finally found the room she'd landed in and set her stuff down. Then, she turned on the light in that room—which worked for the most part—and tried to find a flashlight.

When she finally found one, Akari walked back out of the room and back down the hall. She walked up to a large glass door. The door was cracked and had shattered in one place. Akari stepped through the giant hole and into the room.

A light on the ceiling was half broken and hanging down. Akari shined the flashlight on it so the light would reflect. As soon as it did, Akari smiled slightly. She knew where she was—the library. Akari walked over to the wall of computers and sat down. She tried to turn it on, but with no luck.

Akari sighed and stood up. She grabbed her flashlight and walked out of the library. Then, she continued down the hall until she found two more large doors; these doors were a metallic white in some places, but mostly rusty. Akari used her foot to pry the doors open. She walked inside and flashed the flashlight around her.

Again, Akari knew where she was. She laughed slightly as she thought of the last time she'd been in here—or almost been in here. Pots, pans, and utensils were everywhere. Akari spotted a small stain on one of the walls and remembered the very day that got there.

An older boy had started a food fight and smashed spaghetti into the wall. He was aiming for another boy and had missed—epically. The principal and chef really went off on that guy.

"Wow…" Akari whispered, her voice seeming to echo. "The cafeteria looks a lot different than before…"

Suddenly, Akari heard a loud beeping noise and she jumped. She gulped as she realized what was going on—they were going to tear down the building!

"Crap!" Akari shouted, running through the double doors. She sprinted to her old room, pulled the yellow paper out of her pocket and burst the door open. She literally slid into the room and slapped her hand onto the paper.

"Three!" Akari heard a man shout through a megaphone. "Two!"

"Damn it!" Akari shouted. "Isou!!"

"One!!" The man shouted. "Now!!"

Everything seemed to go slow. A huge explosion sounding noise rang through the building, shaking it to the point Akari almost lost her balance. Then suddenly, the wall next to her disappeared, being replaced by a huge metal ball. Then, the walls all turned white and began to shine. The wrecking ball slowly faded away as Akari closed her eyes and screamed.

* * *

"Oi! Kid!" A voice screamed. Akari felt herself being shook. "Hey!"

"Wh-wha?" Akari moaned, her eyes fluttering open. Anko was staring down at her, hands on Akari's shoulders. "Wh…what… ugm… h-happened?"

Anko sighed. "She's ok." She said. Akari's stomach moaned. She grabbed it and jumped up.

"I-I'm not feeling to… good…" She said. Suddenly, Akari slapped her hand over her mouth and ran out of the room. The Hokage laughed.

Then, Akari heard the Hokage and jonin going through her stuff. 'Oh shit…' She thought.

"Akari? What's this?" The Hokage asked when Akari walked back into the room. He held up the packs of _Naruto _cards.

"Um, well, its just…" Akari began, "S-see… where I come from… Well, they have these 'trading cards' that also feature you guys…" Everyone looked at her like she was crazy.

"Heck, I'll buy it!" The orange haired ANBU members shouted; he had started reading one of Akari's manga… again.

Akari and the others laughed. She scratched the back of her head and blushed. 'Wow…' Akari thought, 'so far so good…'

**I hope this cleared up a few questions and errors I had made in this chapter before. Thanks for all the constructive criticism.**

**Please review to tell me how I did!**


	3. Meeting the Team

**I'm so lazy… I have so many chapters already done! I hope I'm doing well with this rewrite! You guys would let me know right???**

_Last Time:_

"_Akari? What's this?" The Hokage asked when Akari walked back into the room. He held up the packs of Naruto cards. _

"_Um, well, its just…" Akari began, "S-see… where I come from… Well, they have these 'trading cards' that also feature you guys…" Everyone looked at her like she was crazy._

"_Heck, I'll buy it!" The orange haired ANBU members shouted; he had started reading one of Akari's manga… again._

_Akari and the others laughed. She scratched the back of her head and blushed. 'Wow…' Akari thought, 'so far so good…' _

Chapter 3

Akari woke up very early the next morning. Her head was still spinning and she still felt a little sick. 'Damnit…' she thought, 'this is just great…' Akari's eyes snapped open and she stared at the ceiling. Suddenly, someone knocked on her door.

"Hello? Akari!" A high-pitched voice exclaimed. "You awake?" It was Naruto. Akari groaned, got up, walked over to her door and opened it slowly.

"O-oh…" She moaned. "Hey Naruto…" Naruto was completely dressed—headband included. He had his signature grin on.

"Hey!" He said. Then, his smile faded. "Oh… did I wake you up?" Akari sighed.

"Not really." She said. "So what's up?"

"Iruka-sensei said you weren't feeling good, so I got you some ramen!" Naruto exclaimed. He held out a huge bowl of take-out ramen. Taped onto the bowl was a letter. "That's from the old man." Naruto said. Akari smiled groggily and took the bowl.

"Thanks Naruto…" She said, "I'm gonna go back to sleep, ok?"

"Got it!" Naruto said, giving her the thumbs up. "See ya!" Naruto waved and ran down the hall. Akari closed her door, ripped the paper off the bowl, and unfolded it. It read:

_Dear Akari,_

_Today you shall be meeting your new sensei. _

_I know you still feel a little sick, but I can_

_assure you, that ramen Naruto gave you_

_will help. You are to report to training field_

_eleven at 1:00. Good luck._

_Lord Hokage

* * *

_

Akari arrived at the training field at one sharp. She walked through the chain link gate and walked over to a tree.

"Hello? Anyone here?" She shouted, looking up at the tree.

"Akari, nice to see you." A man's voice said from high in the air.

'That voice!' Akari thought. 'No way!' Akari looked to where the voice was coming from. "Whoa…" She whispered. Sure enough, the orange haired ANBU member that had been with Akari since she'd arrived in Konoha, and who was going through Akari's manga collection was standing on a tree branch, arms crossed and mask still on. "Oh my God!!" Akari shouted.

"I am Seto Jotaro!" The orange haired man exclaimed. "I'll be your instructor from now on!" He declared.

"OH SWEET!" Akari shouted, jumping up. "SO WHEN DO I START MY TRAINING??"

'Damn…' Jotaro thought, 'The Hokage said she was sick…' He laughed as Akari grabbed her stomach and groaned.

"Ok," Akari whispered, "Not gonna do that again…"

Jotaro sighed. "Uh, well, we'll start tomorrow morning, I guess…" He said.

"YES!!!" Akari screamed, a little dazed. Jotaro laughed.

"I'll see you tomorrow." He said. "I know you're not feeling so good, so I'm going to wait." With that, he waved and jumped down from the tree. As Jotaro began to walk away, he heard Akari chanting something over and over.

"I've got an ANBU sensei!" She sang, "and I'll become stronger than him someday!" Jotaro could only smile.

'She really is something…' He thought, 'Something weird… but something.'

* * *

The next morning, Akari automatically knew it was going to be a good day. First off, she wasn't feeling sick anymore; second, she was going to meet her sensei and possibly her other teammates.

Akari hopped out of bed and walked into the bathroom. She tied her hair up in a ponytail and tied her headband around her neck. She then went to her closet and put on her signature outfit: a black T-shirt with gold stripes, and a pair of red jeans with MANY pockets.

Akari studied herself in the mirror. When she was finally satisfied with her look, Akari nodded and grabbed her backpack. She then ran to the door and sprinted down the hall.

* * *

After meeting up with Naruto, having some ramen at Ichiraku's (which took forever because—well, let's face it—Naruto was with her), Akari arrived at Training Area 11 at two o'clock. She found the place empty, so she walked over to the tree and threw her backpack down. Akari sat against the tree; arms crossed behind her head, and stared up at the sky.

Akari let out a small yawn as she stretched. Naruto had stopped by her apartment the night before and had a long discussion about how late his sensei was.

'I swear,' Akari thought, 'If Jotaro-sensei is like Naruto's sensei, I'm gonna…' Akari shook her head, trying not to think about it. She grabbed her backpack and pulled out her purple iPOD and headphones. Smiling, she turned the iPOD on and scrolled through her songs.

Finally, she found a good song and pressed play. Then, she rested her head on the tree and closed her eyes.

Not even three minutes later, Akari felt her hair stand on end. She opened one eye and then both eyes went wide. Standing in front of her, with her back to her, was a girl with blue hair. The girl wore her hair in a tight ponytail. She had a red long sleeve shirt on and a leather belt across her shoulder holding a small sword. She also had a pair of denim pants with a blue design on.

The girl was obviously annoyed; she was tapping her foot and had her arms crossed across her chest. Akari slowly and quietly turned her iPOD off and took her headphones out of her ears.

The girl was facing the chain-linked gate. She just stared at it. Finally, she let out a deep aggravated sigh and turned around. In mid turn, she stopped, her eyes locked with Akari's. Both girls froze. Half of the reason Akari stared was because of the situation. The other half was because of the girl's eyes. They were bright pink and seemed to have flecks of blue in them. After what seemed like forever, the blue haired girl blinked.

"Well," Akari said, scratching the back of her head. "This… is a little awkward…"

The girl at first was quiet, staring down at Akari with an emotionless face. Then finally, her eyes seemed to relax and she laughed softly.

"Yeah, guess so." She said. The girl stuck out her hand. "Name's Hisako Yuki." She said. Akari smiled and grabbed her hand.

"Akari." She said. "Nice to meet you." Akari and Yuki shook hands and Akari noticed that Yuki had a firm grip. When they both released hands, Yuki turned back to the gate and stretched.

"Damn," She said, "Sensei better not be late again." Akari blinked.

"You've… had him before?" She asked. Yuki turned to Akari and nodded.

"Yup." She said. Then Akari remembered what Iruka had said about the team mix-ups.

"Oh yeah…" Akari muttered. "I… uh… I heard about the whole… crazy team thing." Yuki laughed.

"Yeah," She said, "About me being in the hospital, and Kasumi not wanting to take the Chunin Exams?" Akari nodded. Yuki sighed. "Yeah," She took a deep breath. "Well, I take it Iruka-sensei told you all this, huh?"

Akari nodded. "Yeah, he kinda filled me in a couple days ago." She said. Yuki crossed her arms again and nodded, looking up at the sky.

"Yeah…" She said. Then, she looked back down at Akari. "Did he… by any chance… tell you about the other teammate we had?" She paused. "A boy?" Akari cocked her head to the side and raised an eyebrow.

"N…no." She said. "There's someone else?" Yuki blinked, then smiled innocently.

"No, no." She said. "It's nothing you need to worry about… now anyways…" She whispered the last part.

"Huh?" Akari said. Yuki smiled.

"Nothing." She said. Suddenly, the sound of chain's being rattled filled the girls' ears. Both of them gazed over at the gate and found a blond haired girl walking over to them.

As the girl walked over Yuki smiled. When she reached the tree, Yuki wrapped her arm around her neck.

"This is Kasumi." She said. "Hideki Kasumi to be correct." Kasumi had long, blond hair that reached almost passed her elbows. She had a long sleeve green button down turtleneck shirt and a pair of dark blue pants. Also, the thing that really got Akari's attention were her eyes. They were bright red!

"H-hi…" She said timidly. Almost instantly, Akari could tell why she didn't want to take the Chunin Exams; heck, she was a lot like Hinata!

Akari stood up and offered Kasumi her hand. Hesitantly, Kasumi accepted and the two girls shook hands. "I'm Akari." Akari said.

"Pleased to meet you." Kasumi said. Suddenly, a voice above the girls made them jump.

"Well, it seems you've all gotten to know each other." A man's voice said. "For the most part, anyway."

It was Seto Jotaro. He jumped down from the tree wearing the normal Jonin outfit; a green vest, dark blue long sleeve shirt, and dark blue pants taped to his shoes. The only thing that would set him apart from other Jonin was the ANBU mask covering his face. It was shaped like a wolf with gold markings.

Akari smiled as her new sensei brushed leaves off of him. "Well girls," Jotaro said, "I have a little game we can play." Akari beamed. Yuki pinched the bridge of her nose. Kasumi smiled.

"A game?" Akari said. Yuki exhaled deeply.

"Here we go…" she whispered. Jotaro nodded.

"Yes." He said. "Here's how the game's played—"

"We each have a go at telling each other about us." Yuki cut in. "What our likes and dislikes are, what our goal for the future is, blah blah, blah blah, blah blah."

Akari bit her lip to try to keep from laughing. She could tell Jotaro wasn't amused.

"Very good, Yuki." He said with sarcasm in his voice. "But we also say a little more about ourselves, like our strengths, weaknesses, something interesting about you, weight…" All three girls gave him 'oh-hell-no' looks. Jotaro raised a hand, "Ok, He said, "Maybe not weight… but you get the point."

"Wh-what about you, sensei?" Kasumi asked. "Are you going to do this too?" Jotaro grabbed the tip of his mask, as if grabbing his chin.

"Dunno." He said. "Probably not most of it; classified." The girls nodded; Akari noticed that Yuki had rolled her eyes. "Ok, so Kasumi, let's start with you."

Jotaro sat down and the girls followed. Kasumi gulped and raised her hand.

"Um…" She began, "W-well, I'm Hideki Kasumi…" She paused. "I like flowers, the color green, and the village." She paused. "I… W-well, I don't like blood, the color black, or fighting too much. And I-I want to be a medical ninja." She paused yet again. "My strengths? Umm… Not too sure… I-interesting fact? W-well, I can sense different people's chakra… My weaknesses?" She sighed, looking down. "I'm to shy for my own good…"

Jotaro nodded. "Well, the fact that you admitted it proves that you aren't." He said. Kasumi half smiled. "Yuki, why don't you go next?"

Yuki sighed. "Hmph…" She said, tilting her head back and looking up at the sky. "Name's Hisako Yuki." She said, "I like the rain, lightning, the color red, being with people—even if I don't talk to anyone. I don't like other villages—can't really explain that—I don't like people leaving other people out 'cause of who they are… and I don't like Sasuke, at all." She paused, noticing Kasumi and Akari giving her weird looks. "What?" She said, "I don't."

"Please continue." Jotaro said. Yuki rolled her eyes.

"My goal for the future is to become Hokage." She said. Akari's eyes snapped wide and her mouth opened a little. "My strengths are… complicated. My weaknesses are… also complicated." She paused, sighing and looking back at the sky. "Something interesting…? Something interesting, huh?" She said. Then, she let out an almost creepy laugh. "My whole clan was killed on the night the Kyuubi attacked Konoha." She said.

Akari's eyes widened more. She let out an almost silent gasp. Then, she quickly bit her tongue as Yuki looked back at her team.

"And that's it." She said blankly. There was an eerie silence. Then finally, Jotaro cleared his throat.

"Well then…" He said. "Akari? I believe it's your turn."

Akari blinked and shook her head. "R-right." She said. "Well, my name's Akari. No last name. Uhh… I like teriyaki chicken and fried rice… and ramen… and the colors purple, black, green, and red. I don't like—scratch that—I _hate_ spiders, and Sasuke's gets on my nerves a lot…" She paused, grabbing her chin. "I…I'm not sure what my goal is… I guess just to be a good kunoichi…" She nodded. "Anyway, my strengths are water and ice—don't know why—and I'm… _ok _with a sword… I guess." She glanced over at Yuki, "But don't get any ideas," She said, "I suck."

Yuki laughed. "I'm actually just learning how to use this thing myself!" She laughed. Akari laughed back.

"Heh," She said, "Well, my weaknesses are fire, and—quite frankly—swords… and different weapons. Actually, most attacks I have that involve weapons are just lucky shots. Hehe…" She scratched the back of her head. "Uhh… a cool fact…" Akari gulped. 'Should I tell them?!' She thought frantically. 'No way! They wouldn't believe me anyway!!'

"Ak-kari-san?" Kasumi said. "Are you ok? You just started staring off into sp-space…"

Akari shook her head. "Yeah, I'm ok." She said. "Anyway, one cool thing about me is that… I've got this weird looking birth mark on my shoulder."

Akari lifted up her sleeve a little. Her birthmark looked like a slanted backwards 'L' and a straight line with a slanted line through both of them.

"I really can't explain it." Akari said, looking down at it. "Even the nurse at… uhh… where I went before I came here said it was the weirdest thing she'd ever seen."

From behind the mask, Akari heard Jotaro give out an almost silent gasp, and he unconsciously grabbed his right arm. Yuki blinked, her eyes wide. Kasumi gulped hard. Akari raised an eyebrow.

"You guys ok?" She asked. Yuki shook her head and nodded. Kasumi just nodded, giving her an innocent smile. Jotaro was still looking at Akari's arm.

"S-sensei?" Kasumi said. "Are you ok-k?" Jotaro gulped.

"I…I'm fine." He said. "Thanks." Jotaro stood up and stretched. Akari and the other girls looked up at him. Yuki had slouched back, resting on her elbows.

"No what?" She asked. Jotaro grabbed his mask and adjusted it on his face.

"Now," He began, "We rest up." The girls all looked at each other with puzzled expressions.

"C-_come again_?" Yuki said, sitting up. Jotaro nodded.

"We've got a big mission tomorrow!" He declared. Yuki moaned loudly and flopped back, completely laid back.

"_Great_…" She moaned. Jotaro laughed.

"Well, you girls could stay here if you'd like." He said. "But I have something important I have to tend to." He turned to the tree, looked back, and gave the girls the thumbs-up. "See ya tomorrow!" He exclaimed. With that, he jumped into the tree and disappeared.

"_Fabulous_…" Yuki grunted sarcastically, still not moving from her spot. By now, Kasumi and Akari had stood up.

Akari took a deep breath. Then finally, hesitantly, she spoke. "So…" She began, "You guys… You're eyes…" Kasumi blinked; Yuki lifted her head up and raised an eyebrow. "Uh, is that like… a kekke genkai or something?"

Yuki moaned and slammed her head back down. "Yup." She said. Kasumi also nodded.

"Cool." Akari said. "So, like… what can you guys do?"

Kasumi opened her mouth, but was cut off by Yuki. "You'll have to see tomorrow!" She exclaimed, sitting up. Yuki laughed. "This is really gonna be an interesting team." She said, jumping up. Akari raised an eyebrow.

"Whaddya mean?" She asked. Yuki put a hand on her shoulder.

"Trust me." She said, "You'll find out."

**Ok, so I decided to put Yuki and Kasumi in earlier. I think before I didn't have enough of a relationship between the three girls and Jotaro. I plan on adding him in more too, but I'm not gonna have him in for a while.**

**Please review and tell me how I did!!**


	4. Mission Time

**Let me know how I'm doing!!**

_Last Time:_

_Akari took a deep breath. Then finally, hesitantly, she spoke. "So…" She began, "You guys… You're eyes…" Kasumi blinked; Yuki lifted her head up and raised an eyebrow. "Uh, is that like… a kekke genkai or something?"_

_Yuki moaned and slammed her head back down. "Yup." She said. Kasumi also nodded._

"_Cool." Akari said. "So, like… what can you guys do?"_

_Kasumi opened her mouth, but was cut off by Yuki. "You'll have to see tomorrow!" She exclaimed, sitting up. Yuki laughed. "This is really gonna be an interesting team." She said, jumping up. Akari raised an eyebrow. _

"_Whaddya mean?" She asked. Yuki put a hand on her shoulder._

"_Trust me." She said, "You'll find out."_

Chapter 4

The next morning, Akari went through the same process as the day before. Only this time, she packed some food and weapons in her backpack.

Walking to the screen door, Akari stuffed a rice ball into her mouth. Unfortunately, she wouldn't be able to have ramen with Naruto this morning. No. She had her first mission today! She couldn't be goofing off!

Or could she?

Akari noticed that a note had been taped to her screen door. She opened the door and pulled the little paper inside. It read:

_Akari,_

_Sorry but I can't make it today. I've been_

_assigned another A-rank mission and I _

_must attend. Hope you can understand._

_You and the other girls will be going _

_on a mission with Squad 7 today instead._

_Have fun._

_Jorato_

'Great…' Akari thought, 'So much for learning some new jutsu…' Suddenly, someone knocked on Akari's door.

"Akari!" Naruto's voice rang.

'Damn…!' Akari thought, walking over to the door.

"C'mon! We got a mission today!" Naruto exclaimed. "You're gonna be late!"

Akari moaned. "I know…" She sad. "I'll meet ya there ok?" There was a slight pause.

"Ok," Naruto said. "But if you're late you owe me a bowl of ramen!"

"Ugh…" Akari moaned. "How'd I know that was coming?" She sighed. "Deal."

Akari heard the sound of what she suspected was Naruto jumping into the air. Then, she heard rapid footsteps that gradually got softer and softer until they disappeared. Akari smiled. She walked over to her kitchen and grabbed some ham and a few slices of bread.

Ten minutes later, Akari looked down at her watch and groaned. "Ugh…" She grunted, "I owe Naruto lunch."

* * *

"Ok gang," Kakashi began, "Squad 9 is going with us on this mission…" He paused. Sasuke had his arms crossed, nose in the air and Sakura was complimenting him like the little fan girl she is. "That is…" Kakashi continued, "If they even get here." Then, Kakashi looked around and slapped his forehead. "And Naruto still isn't here…"

"Hmph. I've got somewhere to be." An old man shouted. The man was Squad 7 and 9's client, Tazuna "Those brats better hurry up."

"Hey guys!!" Naruto's voice rang. "I'm here!! Sorry I'm la—"

"Naruto!" Sakura screamed, punching him on the head. "I thought you said you were gonna get Akari!"

"I did!" Naruto shouted, gripping his head. "She's right behind me!" Sure enough, Akari was leaning against one of Konoha's gates with her headphones in her ears. "READY TO GO AKARI?!" Naruto screamed.

"YEP!!" Akari screamed, flashing the thumbs up.

"GOOD!!" Naruto screamed back. "THEN TAKE THOSE THINGS OFF!!" Akari blinked.

"WHAT?!" She screamed.

"TAKE-THOSE-THINGS-OFF!!" Naruto screamed even louder. Sakura steamed and smacked Naruto again.

"OH! OK!" Akari laughed and took the headphones out of her ears. She walked over to the gang and began to turn her iPOD off.

Sasuke leaned in, face still as emotionless as ever.

"What's that thing?" He asked. Akari turned to him and smiled.

"It's called an iPOD." She said. "It can store music on it and I can listen to it whenever I want!"

Sasuke said nothing. He merely nodded and walked away. Akari blinked and sighed.

"Can we get going?!" Tazuna shouted, taking a swig of whatever was in the bottle in his hand. Kakashi sighed.

"We have to wait for the rest of Squad 9." He said. As if on cue, Yuki came walking out of Konoha's gate and completely passed the others.

"Hey guys." She said, waving slightly. "Let's go, 'k?"

As Yuki continued down the path, completely ignoring fact that the others hadn't moved yet, Kasumi came walking towards the gates. She stopped at the small booth next to the gates and began talking with Izumo and Kotetsu. The three of them smiled and laughed until finally, Kasumi began to walk towards the gate.

"Can we PLEASE leave NOW!?" Tazuna shouted. Kakashi sighed.

"He's right." He said, "We've wasted too much time as it is." He paused, looking over his fairly large group. Yuki was almost out of sight, Akari had begun digging in her bag for God knows what, Sakura was still being a fan girl to Sasuke, Naruto was trying to get Sakura to pay attention to him, Kasumi was gazing up at th large white gates, and Tazuna had continued to drink. Finally, Kakashi sighed. "Squad 7…" He said.

Akari looked up "Ahem…!" She said. Kakashi laughed.

"And 9," He said. "Move out!"

* * *

An hour later, the tension in the group had risen—no—shot up. Naruto had been complaining about how long it was going to take to get the Tazuna's village, Sasuke and Yuki kept having mini battles—well, if you call small insults back and forth battles—while Sakura kept yelling at Yuki for insulting Sasuke, Kasumi had hung in the back of the line—Kakashi kept reminding her to keep up—and Akari was listening to her iPOD again, so she couldn't hear anything.

"Hey, old man?" Naruto whined. Tazuna stopped and barred his teeth.

"What do ya want now?!" He exclaimed.

"Are we almost there ye—" Naruto was cut off by Sakura, who—out of nowhere—swooped in and smacked him on the head. "OW! Sakura-chan! What was that for?!" Naruto cried.

"For being a moron!" Sakura shouted. "You'll never shut up will you? You should be more like Sasuke!"

Sasuke let out a small 'pff' and glanced over at Akari. 'Kinda makes me wish I had one of those stupid things…' He thought, 'Damn it… then I wouldn't have to hear them bicker.'

Akari was somewhat in the back of the line, listening to 'Hell Song' by Sum 41. She looked up and noticed that Naruto had turned around, almost facing her, and he was talking.

"NARUTO?!" She shouted, "YOU TALKING TO ME?!" Kakashi immediately pulled the earphones out of Akari's ears. "OW!!" She screamed, "What was that for?!"

"We need to be quiet," Kakashi whispered, "or else we may get caught." Suddenly, a kunai attached to a chain flew towards Tazuna.

A few things happened at once: Akari jumped almost two feet off the ground, Kasumi ducked, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke, gasped, Kakashi's eyes—or eye—widened, and Yuki—from the front of the line—rolled her eyes.

"Protect the bridge builder!" Kakashi shouted. Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke ran next to Tazuna in a defensive pose.

Kasumi timidly ran over to Tazuna and stood behind him, back facing him, and pulled out a kunai. Naruto glanced over at Akari and his eyes widened.

"Akari?!" He shouted, "What're you doing?!" Akari had put her headphones back in her ears. "AKARI!!" Naruto screamed. Sasuke, Sakura, and Tazuna noticed and their eyes widened as well.

"She's going to get herself killed!" Sakura shouted. Naruto had his mouth hanging open. Sasuke merely rolled his eyes and groaned.

Akari, meanwhile, was looking around, trying to find the attackers. Suddenly, from a bush in front of her, a chain flew towards her. Akari gasped and jumped out of the way.

"Shit!" She shouted, a little shaky. Akari closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The only thing she could hear was the music.

Everybody's got their problems. 

Everybody says the same thing to you:

It's just a matter've how ya solve 'em,

And know how to change the things you've been through.

Akari's eyes snapped open; from the corner of her eye, she saw another chain fly at her. Narrowly dodging, Akari dropped down on one knee and pulled out a kunai.

I feel I've come to realize,

How fast life can be compromised.

Step back, do you see what's goin' on?

I can't believe this happened to you…

This happened to you.

It's just a problem that I faced with, am I 

Not the only one who hates to stand by?

Complications that're first in this line,

With all these pictures running through my mind.

Knowing endless,

Consequences,

I feel so useless in this.

Get back, step back, and as for me,

I can't believe…

Part of me, won't agree,

Cuz I don't know if it's for sure!

Suddenly! Suddenly, I don't feel so insecure!

Part of me, won't agree,

Cuz I don't know if it's for sure!

Suddenly! Suddenly, I don't feel so insecure!

Anymore!!

Akari looked around, wondering why whoever was attacking hadn't attacked again yet. Instead of finding anyone, Akari noticed that Yuki was also gone.

Everybody's got their problems. 

Everybody says the same thing to you:

It's just a matter've how ya solve 'em,

But what else are we supposed to do…

"Sh-she's insane!!" Sakura shouted. "She's going to die if she keeps this up!"

'Good,' Sasuke thought.

Part of me, won't agree,

Cuz I don't know if it's for sure!

Suddenly! Suddenly, I don't feel so insuqure!

Part of me, won't agree,

Cuz I don't know if it's for sure!

Suddenly! Suddenly, I don't feel so insuqure!

Anymore!!

Yet another chain was sent flying at Akari. She managed to dodge and ended up accidentally slamming into a huge man: One of then demon brothers of the Mist. Akari's eyes widened as she slowly turned around.

Why do things that matter the most,

Never end up cuttingit close?

Now I find out, it ain't so bad,

I don't think I knew what I had.

Why do things that matter the most,

Never end up cuttingit close?

Now I find out, it ain't so bad,

I don't think I knew what I had…

The man—one of the Demon Brothers—raised a hand fully encased in metal. His eyes narrowed and then widened as he began to thrust his hand at Akari.

Suddenly, something hit Akari from the side, knocking her to the ground. When she skidded to a halt, her eyes snapped open; lying next to her was Yuki. She was gripping her lower arm and had her eyes closed tightly.

Finally, her eyes snapped open and she groaned. "Are you crazy?!" She shouted, jumping up. "Augh…"

"Y-yuki!!" Kasumi shouted. "A-are you ok?!" Yuki barred her teeth and glanced over at her newfound teammates.

"Don't worry 'bout me now!" She shouted.

Akari just stared at her blue-haired friend. She'd saved her from God knows what that guy was going to do to her!

"Yuki! Akari!" Naruto shouted. Another one of the demon brothers was right behind them. The man laughed evilly; Yuki and Akari's eyes widened.

Suddenly, Naruto jumped in front of them and sort of pushed them out of the way. In an attempt to escape, his hand was cut on a claw like glove on the man's hand.

"OW!!" He shouted.

"Naruto!" Akari shouted.

"You dumb ass!" Sasuke exclaimed. "Look out!" The other demon brother had released his chain in Naruto's direction. At the same time, Sasuke had leapt into the air and thrown a shuriken at the chain. Then he threw a kunai into the center of the shuriken, trapping the demon brothers against a tree.

"What the hell?!" One exclaimed. The other had gone rushing towards Tazuna, Kasumi, and Sakura.

"Shit!" Sasuke muttered. He ran in front of Sakura and was ready for the attack.

Suddenly, the chain holding the second Demon Brother broke. Naruto panicked as he sprinted towards him.

"Oh no you don't!!" Akari shouted. She jumped into the air and fell right on the man's back. "Now STAY down!!" She exclaimed.

"Ah!" The Demon Brother attacking Tazuna shouted. "Wh-what the—" Suddenly, he was cut short. Kakashi stood in front of Sasuke with the Demon Brother under his arm.

"Whoops!" He said, "Looks like you left you're guard down." Kakashi's shadow clone was standing next to Akari with the other Demon Brother under his arm.

"Yeah!" Akari screamed. "That was awesome!!" Kakashi sighed.

"Akari!" He shouted. "What was that back there? I took those things out of your ears for a reason!" Akari turned to him and crossed her arms.

"And I put 'em in for a reason!" She exclaimed. "I wanted to see if I could fight without being able to hear anything! That could come in handy, right?" Yuki let out a soft 'pff'.

"You got your ass kicked." She said, "Plus, I had to save you."

"That was quite impressive…" Tazuna stated, glancing over at Yuki.

Yuki smirked. Akari blushed angrily. Yuki sighed and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Look, I didn't even want to come here." She said. "Sorry if I stole your _thunder_ back there." For some reason, she emphasized 'thunder'.

Akari sighed and half smiled. "It's ok." She said. "Heh, now that I saw what you can do, I have a chance to do better!"

Yuki laughed and batted Akari on the back. "Guess so!"

Suddenly, Kasumi came running over. "Y-yuki-san!" She exclaimed, "Y-you're bleeding!!" Yuki blinked and looked down at her wound.

"Oh." She said.

Meanwhile, Naruto was pissed.

"Right!" He shouted, pointing at Tazuna, "You say she's cool, but when I came into the picture, I was mister loser?!"

"Yep." He said gruffly. Naruto balled his hands into fists and barred his teeth.

"Grrr…" He growled. 'I was useless!' Naruto thought, 'Sasuke looked as if he'd done this a thousand times! And Yuki's totally cool with all of this!!'

"Oh relax Naruto. That was all an accident anyway." Yuki said. She glared at Sasuke. "Yeah, nice job tough guy." She said sarcastically.

"Naruto." Kakashi began, "Sorry I didn't help you right away." He glanced down at Naruto's hand. "Stand still. That wound… you need to open it up and get the poison out." Naruto's eyes widened.

"Wh-what?" He said.

"Don't move a lot." Kakashi continued. "That poison's in your blood and if you move, it'll spread the poison around."

Naruto was silent. He blinked. Once, twice, three times…

Finally, he lost it.

"AH!!" He screamed. "ARE YOU SERIOUS?!"

Yuki slapped her forehead. "Moron!" She shouted. "He said don't move!! You're gonna end up killing yourself!!" Kasumi took hold of Yuki's arm and checked it over.

"Y-yuki-san…" She said, "You've got the same poison in you t-too…"

Yuki blinked. Then, she laughed. "I thought so." She said. She raised her arm up, revealing a small gash on her lower arm. "See, Naruto? I've got poison in me too! I'm not doing anything!"

Kasumi took hold of Yuki's arm again and grabbed a medical kit out of her backpack.

"S-sorry, Yuki-san," She said, "I'm no medical ninja, but I'd heard of these two, so I brought some supplies just in case."

Yuki smiled. "Thanks Kasumi." She said, scratching the back of her head.

Kakashi meanwhile had tied the two Demon Brothers to a tree. He sighed.

"These two are Chunin from the Hidden Mist village." He said.

"How'd you know about our ambush?" One of the Demon Brothers asked.

"A puddle…" Kakashi said, "on a sunny day… when it hasn't rained in weeks." He paused. "It was obvious."

"This stuff is too advanced for us!" Sakura stated. "We should go back now and get Naruto and Yuki a doctor."

"Grr…" Naruto growled. He suddenly pulled out a kunai stabbed his hand. "Why am I so different?!" He muttered. "All my life I've spent countless hours training!! Pushing myself until it hurt! Anything to get stronger; to reach my dream." He paused, scooping poison out of his wound. "I will never run away, and I won't lose to Sasuke!" He raised his hand up. "Upon this wound, I make this pledge! Believe it!" He turned to Tazuna. "Bridge builder, I'll complete this mission if it kills me!"

"Naruto," Kakashi began, "that was cool how you took the poison out and all, but," He paused, noticing Yuki and Kasumi's muffled laughs, "if you lose anymore blood… you'll die."

"…" At first, Naruto said nothing. Then, his face started turning red and his eyes widened. Finally, he lost it. "AH!!" He screamed. "Oh great! No, no, no!"

"Show me your hand…" Kakashi said. Naruto stuck his hand out and Kakashi checked it over. 'The wound… it's already starting to heal…' He said. Naruto had begun to shake.

"Um," He began, "y-you've got a really serious look on your face…" He paused. "Am I gonna be ok?"

"You'll be fine." Kakashi said, bandaging Naruto's hand. He then turned to the group. Sakura was blabbering about how cool Sasuke was, Naruto was panicking, Tazuna was drinking, Sasuke and Yuki were trying to ignore the fact that the other was here, Kasumi was trying to get some poison out f Yuki's arm, and Akari, again, was listening to her Ipod. "Hm…" Kakashi moaned. "Let's get going." He said. He tapped Akari on the shoulder and motioned her to walk.

Akari nodded and stuck her iPOD into her pocket, still listening to it.

"Akari's gonna get herself killed!" Sakura whispered to her teammates.

"Hm…" Sasuke moaned. "Do you think we'd be that lucky?" He said to no one in particular.

"Tch…" Naruto butted in. "You don't like her don't you? Sasuke dumb ass?"

"So what if I don't?" Sasuke snarled.

"She's my best friend!!" Naruto shouted.

"Um, guys," Sakura whispered. "Please stop fighting!"

"Yeah seriously…" Akari's voice said from behind the three teammates. Apparently her song was over and she had turned off her Ipod.

Sasuke let out a 'tch' and looked forward. "How much of that did you here?" He asked.

"Just Sakura tellin' you guys to shut the hell up." Akari said.

"…" Sasuke didn't say anything. Akari sighed and glanced back at Kasumi and Yuki.

Kasumi had started catching up, but Yuki seemed to be the one falling behind now. Akari slowed down until she was standing next to her blue haired friend.

"You ok?" She asked. Yuki sighed and nodded. "Ok, what's wrong?"

Yuki glanced up at the sky. "Well…" She began, "Ya know how yesterday I said I don't like other villages?" She asked. Akari nodded. "Well, I just…" She paused. "Earlier… I hurried out of the village 'cause I just really wanted to get this over with." She paused again, scratching the back of her head. "I mean… who knew we'd have ninja after us…"

"Is that why you disappeared for a little bit back there?" Akari asked. Yuki nodded.

"Sorry about that." She said. Akari shook her head.

"No, no." She said. "It's fine." Akari laughed. "Hell, ya saved my life! Now I think I owe YOU one!!" Yuki smiled and laughed.

"Thanks." She said.

"You're welcome." Akari said. Suddenly, as if remembering something, Akari perked up. Her eyes darted back and forth. 'If I'm not mistaken…' she thought, 'we aren't very far away from our next—'

Out of nowhere, a gigantic sword flew through the air and slammed into a tree. A huge man stood on the sword; He was from the Mist Village.

Akari gulped.'—battle…'

**So Yuki doesn't like other villages? Huh, who knew?**

…**oh wait… I did… ^^**

**Please review and tell me how I did!!**


	5. Momochi Zabuza Appears

_Last Time:_

"_You're welcome." Akari said. Suddenly, as if remembering something, Akari perked up. Her eyes darted back and forth. 'If I'm not mistaken…' she thought, 'we aren't very far away from our next—' _

_Out of nowhere, a gigantic sword flew through the air and slammed into a tree. A huge man stood on the sword; He was from the Mist Village. _

_Akari gulped.'—battle…'_

Chapter 5

No one moved.

Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke had gathered around Tazuna; Kakashi stood out in front; Kasumi was standing somewhat in the back; Yuki was all the way in the back, and Akari was in between the two girls.

The man was half turned around. His skin was pale and unhealthy looking. He wore a pair of gray pants and two dark gray straps over his shoulders. Covering his face was white tape.

"…Heh, heh…" the man laughed. Akari noticed Kasumi flinch. "Hand over the bridge builder and no one gets hurt."

From behind her, Yuki balled her hands into fists.

"F-fat chance!" Akari shouted suddenly. The man growled.

"Akari," Kakashi whispered. "Watch yourself." He stood in a fighting stance. Kakashi looked up at the man and narrowed his eyes. "Well, well," He said, "if it isn't Momochi Zabuza. Rogue ninja from the Hidden Mist Village."

The man, now identified as Momochi Zabuza, laughed. "Kakashi of the Sharingan eye, right?" He asked, and laughed. "It's to bad, huh? But you'll have to hand over the old man." He exclaimed.

Kakashi turned to his team. "Quick," He said, "protect the bridge builder. I taught you teamwork now use it." He lifted up his headband revealing his a red eye with a few strange black marks in them. "I'm ready." He whispered. Naruto barred his teeth.

"Everybody keeps talkin' about Sharingan," He exclaimed, "what is Sharingan?!"

Sasuke's eyes were wide. "The Sharingan," He began, "a rare power that resides in the eyes. The user can instantly see any genjutsu, taijutsu, or ninjutsu and reflect it back on the attacker." He paused, "The Sharingan is a special rare form of dojutsu. But there's more to it than that."

Zabuza laughed. "You only scratched the surface," He said. "The Sharingan can analyze and copy the attack to the smallest detail. I had a standing order to take you out on sight." He paused. "Your profile was in our bingo book. It called you the man who copied over a thousand jutsu. Hatake Kakashi: the copy ninja."

Sakura turned to Kakashi, her eyes wide and mouth hanging open. 'What?' She thought. 'Is Kakashi-sensei such a famous ninja?' Naruto beamed.

"Wow, that's so cool!" He exclaimed.

From behind her, Akari heard Yuki let out a small 'tch'.

'Wait…' Sasuke thought, 'the Sharingan is a trait that only occurs in a few members of the Uchiha clan. My clan…' He glanced over at Kakashi. 'Could he be…?' Suddenly, a mist surrounded the group.

"Enough talk." Zabuza suddenly exclaimed. "I need to exterminate the old man." He jumped onto the top of a small lake. "So I'll have to go through you first, eh Kakashi?"

Kakashi's stance widened. He closed his regular eye. Zabuza suddenly disappeared.

"He'll come after me first." Kakashi whispered. "Don't lower your guard, whatever you do." The area was silent.

'Where'd he go?!' Akai thought. Kakashi's chakra was building up rapidly.

Sasuke suddenly began shaking. 'I feel like I can't breath!' He thought. 'One shallow breath, one damn movement of the eye's enough to draw out his attack! I can't take it! I'd rather…!' He pulled out a kunai.

"Sasuke!" Kakashi exclaimed. "Calm down. I'll protect you guys with my life." The air seemed to ease up. Sasuke relaxed a bit.

"I wouldn't be so sure…" A gruff voice said. Zabuza appeared between the genin and Tazuna. Suddenly, Kakashi appeared, shoved Zabuza away, and stabbed him with a kunai. Surprisingly, he melted.

Kakashi's eye widened.

"Sensei behind you!" Naruto shouted. Zabuza suddenly appeared and thrust his sword through Kakashi, who also melted in a splash.

'The water clone jutsu…?!' Zabuza thought frantically. 'It can't be!' Kakashi suddenly appeared behind Zabuza with a kunai at his neck.

"Don't move." He snapped. Akari's eyes widened.

"Dude!" She shouted, throwing her fist into the air. "Cool…"

Kakashi and Zabuza stood, unmoving. "You're finished." Kakashi said coolly.

"Heh…" Zabuza laughed. "Finished am I? You don't get it do you?" Kakashi's eye narrowed. "Your technique is just a damn imitation." Zabuza snarled. "You impress me. Nice try, but I'm not that easy to fool." Suddenly, Zabuza melted again and another Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi. He kicked Kakashi into the nearby lake.

Kakashi coughed and let out a short gasp. "This isn't normal water…" He whispered, his eye widening.

"Water prism jutsu!" Zabuza suddenly hissed forming a few hand signs. Water began rising around Kakashi until he was completely trapped.

"No!" Kakashi shouted. Zabuza laughed.

"I'll finish you later." He said. He turned to the Tazuna and the others. "Water clone jutsu." He said. A Zabuza clone appeared and guarded Kakashi.

"Listen!" Kakashi shouted. "Get the bridge builder outta here!"

Sasuke growled, ran at Zabuza, and jumped into the air. Before Sasuke could do anything, Zabuza grabbed him by the neck and threw him back at the rest of the group. Then Naruto ran at Zabuza and ended up getting kicked.

"What're you thinking!?" Sakura screamed pulling out a kunai.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Yuki jumped into the air behind Tazuna and flew at Zabuza.

Zabuza glanced up at her and laughed. Yuki performed a few hand signs and thrust her hand into the air.

"And what do you think you're doing, huh?" Zabuza growled. The hair on the back of Akari's neck stood on end again.

'What the…?' Akari thought. Yuki barred her teeth together. Suddenly, a small dark cloud began surrounding her hand. Zabuza noticed and narrowed his eyes.

"What's this?" He whispered. Yuki growled.

"I—Hate—The Mist Village!!" She screamed, throwing her arm towards Zabuza. Zabuza jumped back as Yuki came hurtling towards him. As soon as she was close enough, he grabbed her lower arm.

Yuki's eyes squeezed closed and she practically screamed; Zabuza had grabbed her wound. He held her in the air by her arm and smiled evilly.

"I see those two Demon Brothers got to you, eh?" He said. Yuki growled. Then, Zabuza let go of Yuki's arm and kicked her in the stomach.

Yuki coughed up blood and was sent flying into a nearby tree.

"Y-yuki-san!" Kasumi shouted. Sasuke jumped up from the ground and jumped into the air. Out of his bag, he threw a giant shuriken. Zabuza noticed out of the corner of his eye and narrowed his eyes.

"To easy." He said as he caught it. Another one flew at him and he jumped over it. "Pathetic." He hissed. From behind him, he heard a loud 'poof' and he spun around.

"Take this you bastard!" Naruto shouted. The shuriken had changed into him. He threw a kunai at Zabuza who let go of the water prism in order to dodge. "Yes!!" Naruto exclaimed. Kakashi came tumbling out of the water.

Zabuza swung the giant shuriken at Kakashi and he caught it with the metal plate on the back of his glove. Coughing, Kakashi looked up at Zabuza.

"Naruto," He said, "that was an excellent plan." At first, Kakashi and Zabuza froze. Then, he and Zabuza jumped onto the water and performed multiple hand signs.

"Wh-whoa!" Akari shouted. She and Kasumi had gone running over to Yuki's aid.

"So many signs!" Sakura exclaimed. Sasuke said nothing as usual.

"Water style! Water dragon jutsu!" The two Jonin said in unison. Two gigantic water dragons appeared out of the lake and attacked each other. At the same time, Kakashi and Zabuza ran at each other and attacked, Kakashi with a kunai, Zabuza with his sword.

"They move at the same time!" Tazuna shouted, astounded.

"What're they doing?" Sakura exclaimed, turning to Sasuke. "Huh Sasuke?" She asked.

Akari rolled her eyes. "Ya know," She whispered. "Sasuke can't answer every question you ask him…" She and Kasumi each had one of Yuki's arms around their necks.

Suddenly, Zabuza and Kakashi jumped back and started doing more hand signs. "Water style! Giant vortex jutsu!" Kakashi shouted. Zabuza's eyes widened.

"What?!" He screamed. "Impossible!" A huge wall of water hit him and sent him flying into a tree. Kakashi then threw six kunai at him.

Kakashi walked over as the water began to die down. Zabuza coughed. Kakashi crossed his arms.

"Looks like you're finished." He said. Zabuza growled. Suddenly, three senbom collided with Zabuza's neck. He gasped and collapsed. A feminine voice sighed.

"Thank you." The voice said. A fifteen-year-old boy was standing on a tree branch above Zabuza. "I've been tracking him for a while now." He jumped down, picked Zabuza up, and disappeared.

At first, no one said anything. Then finally, Naruto broke the silence.

"What the hell was that?!" He shouted. "That guy looked almost my age!"

"Naruto…" Kakashi sighed. "Sometimes that kind of thing happens." He paused, lowering his headband back over his eye. "There are some people that are stronger than me… but younger than you." Naruto's eyes widened.

"I-I'm a little confused too." Kasumi said. Kakashi sighed and surveyed he situation: Tazuna, Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke were fine, Kasumi and Akari were ok, but he was wiped out, and Yuki had lost consciousness. Plus, she needed medical attention, or the poison in her arm would spread more.

"Let's go you guys." Kakashi said. As he began to walk away, he froze, grunted, and collapsed.

"Sensei!" Sakura shouted. Kasumi and Akari walked over. Akari lifted Yuki's arm off of Kasumi and Kasumi walked over to Kakashi.

"H-he's just worn out is all." She said. "We need to get him somewhere safe."

Akari half laughed. "Well then," She said. "Who wants to carry him?"

* * *

"I think I over did it…" Kakashi said sitting up. He was lying in a small bed in the home of Tazuna's daughter's house. Kakashi groaned and held his head in one hand. "Hmm…"

"Yeah, you think…?" Akari said. Sakura rolled her eyes. Akari noticed and turned to her. "What?" She asked. Sakura rolled her eyes again.

"Sorry," She said, "but every time you speak I think you're Naruto." She said sarcastically.

"What was that?!" Akari snapped. Sakura said nothing. "Oi, you wanna go?!"

"Stop it you two." Kakashi ordered. Akari growled and stood up.

"Whatever." She said. Akari turned to Tazuna's daughter. "How's Yuki?" She asked. The woman nodded.

"She's doing fine." She said. "She and your other friend managed to get most of the poison out when it happened, but whatever was left is harmless now." She paused.

Yuki was lying in the bed next to Kakashi's. She was still asleep.

"How long 'til she wakes up, do you think?" Akari asked. Tazuna's daughter shrugged.

"Not sure." She said. "It could be a couple days." Akari moaned.

"Great…" She said.

Suddenly, a boy walked in the room. Tazuna's daughter smiled. "This is my son, Inari." She said. "Inari, these are the ninja from the Hidden Leaf Village." Tazuna's daughter stated.

The boy, Inari looked the shinobi over. Then, he grunted, walked out of the room again, and slammed the door.

"Inari!" The boy's mother shouted. She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Ugh, I'm sorry about that…" She said.

Suddenly, Yuki began to stir. "Hmm…" She moaned, her eyes fluttering open. "Wh…what happened?"

"You got your ass kicked." Akari said playfully, flashing the thumbs-up. Yuki smiled.

"Yeah, thanks." She said, sitting up. Akari laughed. "So…" Yuki began, "What happened… while I was out?"

Akari and Kasumi looked at each other. "W-well…" Kasumi began.

"Not much." Akari finished. "Kakashi kicked Zabuza's ass and this kid finished him off and ran away with his body."

Yuki raised an eyebrow. "Ew…" She said. Akari smiled and flashed the thumbs up again.

"What I don't get…" Kakashi began, "Is why that kid would take him away…"

"Wh-what do you mean?" Kasumi asked. Kakashi groaned.

"Well…" He began, "That kid was an ANBU black op, right?" He paused. "ANBU black ops are trained to get rid of rogue ninja—completely, if you know what I mean."

"Double eww…" Yuki said, leaning back. Kakashi nodded.

"So…" Sasuke began, "Why wouldn't he just do it there?" He said. The others looked at each other.

"Exactly." Kakashi said. He sighed. Kasumi gulped.

"S-so…" She began, "Y-you think he's… a-alive?" Kakashi glanced over at her and nodded.

"Precisely." He said. Kasumi's eyes widened and she gulped again. Akari had an eyebrow raised and her mouth partly open.

"You've GOT to be kidding me…" She said. Kakashi shook his head.

"The only thing we can do now," He said, "Is rest up." He paused. "I doubt he's gonna give up this easily. No doubt, he'll be back soon…"

**So Yuki got her ass kicked. Ha! Funny…**

**Please review!!**


	6. R 'n R Before the Work Begins

_Last Time:_

"_What I don't get…" Kakashi began, "Is why that kid would take him away…" _

"_Wh-what do you mean?" Kasumi asked. Kakashi groaned._

"_Well…" He began, "That kid was an ANBU black op, right?" He paused. "ANBU black ops are trained to get rid of rogue ninja—completely, if you know what I mean."_

"_Double eww…" Yuki said, leaning back. Kakashi nodded._

"_So…" Sasuke began, "Why wouldn't he just do it there?" He said. The others looked at each other._

"_Exactly." Kakashi said. He sighed. Kasumi gulped._

"_S-so…" She began, "Y-you think he's… a-alive?" Kakashi glanced over at her and nodded._

"_Precisely." He said. Kasumi's eyes widened and she gulped again. Akari had an eyebrow raised and her mouth partly open._

"_You've GOT to be kidding me…" She said. Kakashi shook his head._

"_The only thing we can do now," He said, "Is rest up." He paused. "I doubt he's gonna give up this easily. No doubt, he'll be back soon…"_

Chapter 6

That night was… awkward to say the least. Tazuna's daughter kept trying to get Yuki to get some rest, but Yuki was persistent. She ended up staying up half the night, which was a little awkward for everyone else, because they thought she was watching them.

Naruto was probably the first—and only—one to get a good sleep. He snored ALL night. Kakashi slept well, save for the fact that he slept on the bed next to Naruto. Akari was the smartest—she wore her headphones, without listening to the music—but she was still kept up by the noise.

Kasumi had spent half the night getting her stuff together; she had packed all kinds of medicines and bandages in her tiny bag.

Half way through the night, Yuki had gotten up and had walked outside. Akari's eye cracked open as her friend walked out the door. Yuki sat down on the porch and rested her chin on her hands.

Yuki was staring up at the sky. Akari opened both eyes and looked up at the sky as well. She smiled and put her head back down on her pillow. "Full moon…" She whispered, closing her eyes. "Awesome…"

_Flashback:_

_It was a warm day in Konoha. Konoha Academy had just begun._

"_Ok class," Iruka began as the bell rang, "today we'll be learning proper chakra control." He handed each of the students a leaf. "Now see if you can get this to stick to your head."_

_Akari gulped and timidly raised her hand._

"_Um, Iruka-sensei?" She muttered._

"_Yes?" Iruka said, turning to her. The whole class seemed to turn towards her. Akari gulped and continued._

"_Uuum…" She began. "I don't have any chakra." At first, no one said anything. Then, the class erupted in laughter. "IT'S NOT FUNNY!!" Akari screamed, blushing five shades of red._

_From next to her, Akari saw Naruto TRY not to laugh. She smiled a bit. Akari also saw a blue haired girl to her right close her eyes, smile, and nod. _

_Iruka sighed. "I know," He said, " you've told me, but I think you can do it." He placed a leaf on her head. Instantly, it fell._

_Suddenly, a man walked into the room. "Iruka-san," He said, " the Hokage wants to see Akari after classes end." Iruka nodded._

"_Alright." He said, turning to Akari. "You heard the man, Akari." He paused. "When the final bell rings, go straight to the Hokage's mansion."

* * *

_

_Akari walked slowly to the Hokage's office. She gulped as she reached the door. Taking a deep breath, she slowly creaked the door open._

"_Old man?" She whispered. "You… wanted to see me?" _

_The Hokage was seated at his desk, reading some paperwork._

"_Come in Akari." He said, " I've been waiting." Akari took a seat. The Hokage sighed. "So, how are you doing?" He asked._

_Akari blinked. "F…fine!" She exclaimed. The old man nodded._

"_That's good." He said. "Because we wanted you to get a check-up tomorrow evening." Akari blinked again._

"_A… what?" She said. The Hokage smiled._

"_Just a little examination." He said. "And you'll be getting a flu shot…"_

_Akari's stomach flipped._

"_Sh-sh-shot?!" She exclaimed. The Hokage laughed. "Noooo…"_

"_Don't worry!" The Third said, "It'll be quick and easy!"_

_Akari hung her head. "I… hate shots…" She moaned. Akari sighed._

"_Relax." The Hokage said. "You're not going to be the only one." Akari looked up at him and blinked. "Two other girls are getting their exams as well."_

_End Flashback_

'Should've known who they were…' Akari thought in her sleep. 'Hmm…'

As this dream swam out of her head, Akari had another, stranger dream…

_The Hokage was sitting at his desk with some papers in his hand. He turned to a man standing next to him. _

"_The time has come." He said. " I have found a child with a high chakra level, but is not from this world." He paused. " I will have to get some of the other Jonin to learn a special juts; think you can help them?" He said. The man laughed._

"_Certainly." He said. He was wearing an ANBU outfit and a white mask. Orange hair could be faintly seen._

"_Excellent. Thank you." The Hokage sighed. And with that, the ANBU disappeared.

* * *

_

Akari woke up quickly. Her eyes snapped open. Akari sat up and rubbed the back of her head, yawning. "What… time is it…?" She whispered. She looked out the window; the sun was already up.

Akari yawned again and stretched. Then, she noticed Yuki wasn't outside anymore. She raised an eyebrow and glanced over at Yuki's bed. There she was, sound asleep.

Akari smiled. Suddenly, the door to the room flew open and Sakura walked in.

"Breakfast." She said. Akari smirked.

"Thanks." She said. "Be in in a minute."

Sakura walked back out of the room and closed the door. Akari stretched again, grabbed her bag, and walked into the bathroom. She began to get dressed and looked in the mirror. Her birthmark seemed to get darker for some reason. Shrugging it off, Akari walked out of the bathroom.

Akari walked into the kitchen and sat down. "Mornin'." She said. The others were seated at the table, food in hand. Yuki was the only one absent.

"Morning Akari!" Naruto exclaimed. Akari sat down. Kakashi cleared his throat.

"Ok," He began "We've got half an hour until we need to leave." He paused. "All we have to do today is help Mr. Tazuna build the bridge… while protecting him. Got it?"

"Right." Sakura said. Sasuke nodded, his arms crossed. Naruto and Kasumi nodded as well.

"Sweet!" Akari shouted, jumping up. "I hope we get to kick ass today!" She punched her hand. "I really haven't gotten to do much, so I'm ready for some action when it comes!"

"Not likely." Kakashi said. "But we'll need to keep a lookout anyway."

Suddenly, the bedroom door slid open and a very tired looking Yuki strode into the kitchen.

"Hey…" She moaned. She slumped into a seat and blinked.

"How'd you sleep?" Tazuna's daughter asked. Yuki looked over at her, closed her eyes, and smiled.

"Good, thanks…" She said.

"Would you like something to eat?" Tazuna's daughter asked. Yuki shook her head. "Oh… ok."

Yuki stood up and yawned. She walked over to the door and slowly slid it open. "I'll be back." She said. "Not very hungry right now…"

When she was gone, Kasumi sighed. "She's never hungry." She said.

Akari glanced over at her and blinked. "Whaddya mean?" She asked. Kasumi took another bite of her food, swallowed, and continued.

"Ever since I met her, she's been a little…" She paused, trying to find the right words. "Lazy…?" She said questionably. "I can't explain it. She hardly sleeps at all, and she almost never eats… At least while anyone else is around."

Sasuke stood up—arms still crossed—walked to the door, cracked it open slightly, and leaned against the door. He glanced out the door, eyes narrowed.

"The hell's she doing?" He whispered. Naruto stood up and walked to the door as well. Yuki was sitting, legs crossed, in between two trees—back to the house—and she had her hands clasped together. She slowly was performing hand signs and the two boys noticed her hair begin to stand on end.

"Dude…" Naruto whispered. "That's a little freaky…"

**so what's up with Yuki?? Not eating, not sleeping (much)…**

**Please review!!**


	7. Zabuza Returns

_Last Time:_

_Sasuke stood up—arms still crossed—walked to the door, cracked it open slightly, and leaned against the door. He glanced out the door, eyes narrowed._

"_The hell's she doing?" He whispered. Naruto stood up and walked to the door as well. Yuki was sitting, legs crossed, in between two trees—back to the house—and she had her hands clasped together. She slowly was performing hand signs and the two boys noticed her hair begin to stand on end._

"_Dude…" Naruto whispered. "That's a little freaky…"_

Chapter 7

The next day, Naruto woke up to an empty room. "What?" He moaned, sitting up.

The previous day had been slow. Like… mega slow. Nothing had happened. They didn't even have any mist! Naruto had gotten so BORED that that night, he was the first to get to sleep.

Naruto yawned and reached up to his eyes to rub them. When he felt something smooth, he gasped. There was a note attached to his head. It read:

_Wakey, wakey slow poke. Better catch_

_up before you miss all the action._

_Akari_

Naruto balled his hand into a fist. He growled, jumped up, got dressed, and ran out the door.

"Damnit!!" He shouted, trying to get his jacket on. "They left me behind!!"

* * *

After ten minutes of walking to the bridge, a thick mist had begun to set in. Akari, listening to her iPOD on the way, had gotten herself lost.

"Damnit…" She said to herself. "This figures…"

Akari was running through a foggy forest. "What was that?" She heard a familiar voice say.

Akari blinked. "Hey! Guys!" She shouted. "Where the hell are you?!"

"Akari?" Kasumi's voice rang through the fog. "Is that you?"

"Kasumi?" Akari called back. She began swatting at the fog. "Where are—Damn fog—you?"

"Over here!" Kasumi shouted through the mist. "Follow my voice!" Akari kept walking and slammed into a tree. She rubbed her nose and jumped into the tree, hoping she'd be able to spot her friend. She spotted a large silhouette a few feet away.

"Gotcha!" Akari exclaimed. She jumped down from the tree and walked over to the figure. "God," Akari sighed, "I finally found you guys." She lightly punched the figure. Suddenly, Akari paused; a chill ran up her spine. Whatever she'd touched was cold. Taking a closer look, Akari noticed that the figure was extremely tall too. "Wait…" She stammered, "Kasumi… isn't this… b-big…" She gulped. "N-no one on my t-team… is…"

The person she'd found turned out to be a man—a big one. "Well, well," The man said, "looks like you're first…" The man turned around and raised a giant sword. Akari screamed.

Suddenly, something slammed into Akari's side, pushing her out of the way. For a split second, Akari saw a flash of blue.

"Y-yuki?!" Akari shouted. The man swung his sword towards whoever had hit Akari. "Look out!!"

Suddenly, a soft hissing sound erupted from the person's hands. The mist seemed to quickly recede. Sure enough, Yuki was standing in front of Momochi Zabuza.

The sound was coming from Yuki. Her hands were glowing yellow and they were flashing small, spiky streaks.

Lightning.

Akari jumped back and slammed into someone else. She looked up and gasped.

"K-kakashi-sensei?!" Akari exclaimed. The fog seemed to lift a little so Akari could see a little. "What's going on?!"

Kakashi pushed Akari behind him. "As you can see, we had another run-in with Zabuza…" He said. Zabuza growled as his sword collided with Yuki.

"YUKI!!" Akari screamed. But instead of going through the blue haired girl, the sword bounced off of her. Zabuza hissed and dropped the sword; it slammed into the ground, stuck.

"What the hell was that?!" Zabuza snapped coldly. Akari felt another chill strike down her spine.

Yuki smirked, her eyes glowing. "My kekke genkai, bub." She hissed. "You get to be one of the lucky few who gets to see it. This is gonna be the first AND LAST TIME you'll see something like his again!!"

Yuki charged at Zabuza again.

"Kakashi-sensei," Akari began, "Wh-where're Naruto and Sasuke?" Kakashi was panting.

"Fighting with that Haku boy…" He stated. He had his headband raised and was in a fighting stance. "Akari…" He began, "you need to get out of here!"

He motioned for Akari to back away and pulled out a scroll. Kakashi wiped some blood off of an injury to his chest and smeared it onto the scroll. "Earth style: Fanged pursuit jutsu!!" He shouted, thrusting the scroll into the ground. He turned to Akari. "Get out of here, now." He exclaimed. "If you can, help Naruto and Sasuke!"

"Right!" Akari shouted, jumping back. She ran, nervously, in a random direction. "Naruto! Sasuke!" She shouted.

Suddenly, Akari saw a large red flash to her left. She gulped.

Akari skidded to a halt. 'Wait…' Akari thought. 'That's…' She paused. 'I've never seen that before…' In the distance, Akari saw the outline of a red fox. "Naruto!!" She screamed.

Suddenly, a few things happened at once: Akari heard a loud crash in the distance, the area where Yuki and Kakashi was cleared away of all the mist, and Zabuza and Yuki had become surrounded by yellow streaks.

No one seemed to move. Then, suddenly, Yuki shouted something that Akari couldn't hear and a huge gust of wind sent Akari and Kakashi flying back. Fortunately for Kakashi, he was able to keep his balance. Akari however, slipped on some water, was sent tumbling, and was flying off of the bridge.

Everything seemed to go in slow-motion. Akari's eyes widened, she screamed, and on the edge of the bridge, she saw Kasumi appear.

Then, everything went black…

* * *

Akari woke up what seemed like hours later. She gasped and shot up, coughing up water.

"Wh-where am I?" She exclaimed. As all of Akari's senses began to function again, Akari felt cold ground under her. "Wha…?"

"You're ok!" a familiar voice shouted: Kasumi. Akari looked up; Kasumi and Inari, plus a lot of the villagers were standing around her with shovels and helmets on.

"What… happened…?" Akari groaned. She looked around and coughed. "Oh yeah…" She laughed. "I fell off the bridge…" Suddenly, she remembered what happened before she fell. "What happened to the others?!" She exclaimed.

"Well… your sensei…" Inari began, glancing over at the middle of the bridge. Kakashi was standing in front of Zabuza and Haku, who was lying on the ground—dead. Akari bolted up.

"Wh-what happened!?" She shouted. Her head pulsated and she slumped back down "Gah!" She exclaimed. She looked around and gasped. That Gato guy and his mob were standing by the already dead Haku. Suddenly, Gato laughed and kicked Haku in the face.

Akari winced. Kakashi, Naruto, and Yuki were standing a few feet away. Yuki was growling, her lip curled. Then suddenly, Zabuza roared and appeared above the men. He had a kunai in his mouth. Zabuza flew towards the men and slashed almost half of them down. Other men stabbed Zabuza in the back with spears and swords. Zabuza ignored them and ran straight at Gato. Gato, who was freaking out by now, began running away.

"You're the devil!" He screamed. Zabuza lunged at him, stabbed him, and laughed.

"You know," He laughed. "Where we're going, I'll fit right in—with all the murderers and thieves." He paused. "But you… oh, you're in for more hell than even I can imagine!!" Suddenly, he stabbed Gato again and kicked him into the water.

Zabuza wheezed loudly. He turned towards the remaining men and growled; the men screamed and jumped into a boat beside the bridge. Akari bit her lip.

"Kakashi-sensei?!" She shouted. "Naruto?!" Naruto seemed to be… crying. Kakashi said nothing.

"Naruto?" Akari said, a little quieter.

"…" Naruto also said nothing.

Akari noticed that Zabuza was trying to walk back over to Haku. Unfortunately, he ended up falling. Zabuza groaned as he fell to the ground.

Yuki—who was down on one knee, holding her arm—closed her eyes as Zabuza hit the ground. Then, she barred her teeth and stood up weakly.

"Ka…kashi…" Zabuza moaned weakly.

"Yes…?" Kakashi whispered.

"Can you do me… a favor…?" Zabuza continued. Kakashi pulled his headband back down and sighed.

"Sure." He said. He began to walk over and out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Yuki walk towards Zabuza as well. Yuki and Kakashi kneeled down when they reached Zabuza. Zabuza moaned and weakly looked up at them.

"Please…" He groaned. "Take me to him…" Kakashi nodded and began removing all of the spears and swords in Zabuza's back. Yuki gazed down at Zabuza and took a deep breath.

"Let me help too." She said. Kakashi nodded again and together the two of them removed all of the weapons from Zabuza's back. Then, Kakashi hoisted one of Zabuza's arms over his shoulder and Yuki took the other. The two of them began to limp towards Haku's lifeless body.

At first, no one said anything, then Yuki broke the silence.

"…You know…" She whispered, glancing over at Zabuza. He weakly turned his head towards her. "You were… a worthy opponent." Yuki said. "That was a good fight…" She smiled almost sadly. "I just wish we would've been able to finish our match…"

Zabuza gave a weak grunt. "Wh…what…?" Zabuza wheezed. Yuki laughed

"I dunno…" She continued. "…Maybe… just maybe someday… we'll meet again… and be able to finish what we started…" Yuki glanced over at Zabuza, closed her eyes, and smiled weakly. "Do you think so? Momochi-san?"

By now, Yuki and Kakashi had reached Haku. Kakashi carefully set Zabuza down next to the boy and backed away slowly.

Zabuza weakly moved his arm to Haku's face. "Haku…" He whispered. "I wish… I could go with you…" He paused. "Forgive me…" Suddenly, it began to snow.

Akari glanced over at Naruto, who was still crying a little.

"Why…?" Naruto whispered. "Why does this kind of thing have to happen…?

From a distance, Akari could hear Sakura crying. Suddenly, she heard a few coughs and Sakura screaming Sasuke's name. Akari sighed and weakly began to stand up.

"Haku…" Naruto whispered. "Haku… he… he was… like me…"

Yuki's face was emotionless as Zabuza's eyes began to close. Slowly, as his eyes closed, so did hers.

"I don't know… Momochi-san…" She whispered. "Maybe… you _will_ get to see him…"

* * *

The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and the loudest sound that could be heard… was Naruto.

"BYE!!" Naruto screamed, waving his arms like an idiot. He was crying. The gang had packed and was headed back to Konoha.

From the other side of the bridge, Inari was waving his arms and crying as well. "Come back a-any time!!" Inari shouted back.

"Good luck!" Kasumi exclaimed, waving.

"Until next time guys!" Akari shouted from across the bridge, also waving.

Yuki, whose right arm was in a sling, closed her eyes, nodded, and held her hand up.

As the gang began to leave, Yuki opened her eyes and gazed at a large hill on the other side of the bridge. On the hill were two wooden crosses, one with a Mist headband on it, and the other had another Mist headband and a gigantic sword.

Yuki looked down at her arms and smiled. On her arms were two gray and brown arm warmers.

"Yeah," Yuki whispered, glancing back at the hill. "Until next time…"

"Oi! Yuki!" Akari called. Yuki turned around; her friends were already more than fifteen feet away. "C'mon! I thought you wanted to get outta here!!" Yuki smiled and nodded. She carefully ran towards her friends.

Naruto laughed. "When we get back to the village, I'm gonna get Iruka-sensei to fix me up a huge bowl of ramen!" He declared. Akari smiled and licked her lips.

"Me too." She added. Sakura crossed her arms. She suddenly turned to Sasuke.

"Hey," Sakura began.

"Yeah?" Naruto exclaimed, turning to Sakura. Sakura growled and smacked Naruto upside the head.

"Not you Naruto!" She shouted. "Sasuke!" She turned back to Sasuke. "When we get back ya want to do something together?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow and rolled his eyes. "Nah…" He said. Sakura pouted.

"Oh…" She moaned. Naruto jumped over to her.

"I'll do somethin' with you!" He exclaimed.

"Naruto!!" Sakura screamed, punching him in the head. "That was a private conversation! Butt out!" Naruto slammed into the ground, holding his head. Kasumi and Akari began laughing. Sakura crossed her arms and kept walking.

Akari bent down in front of Naruto and laughed. "Better luck next time, baka." She said. Naruto groaned. Suddenly, Yuki caught up. Naruto stood up and eyed Yuki's arms.

"…That's gross…" He said. Yuki cocked her head to the side.

"What is?" She asked. Naruto pointed to her arms. "Oh," Yuki said. "These?" She raised her left arm.

"Why do you even have them?" Sasuke asked. "The guy's dead. Leave it at that."

Yuki shrugged. "Dunno." She said. "He was a good opponent."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He said. Akari crossed her arms behind her head and slowed down until she was next to Yuki.

"I thought you didn't like other villages." She said. Yuki laughed.

"Yeah well…" Yuki sighed. "Things change." Akari laughed. Suddenly, she seemed to perk up, remembering something.

"Oh my God!" Akari exclaimed.

"What?" Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto said. Akari smiled, laughed, and held up the victory sign.

"Don't think we'll be able to get ramen today, Naruto." She said, laughing. "We got work to do!!"

**I dunno, I feel I kinda rushed this arc… maybe not. What do you guys think?**

**Seriously, does anyone find the fact that Yuki took Zabuza's arm warmers gross? In a way, I don't…**

**Please Review!!**


	8. The Calm Before the Exams Begin

**Please read the bottom!**

_Last Time:_

"_Yeah well…" Yuki sighed. "Things change." Akari laughed. Suddenly, she seemed to perk up, remembering something._

"_Oh my God!" Akari exclaimed._

"_What?" Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto said. Akari smiled, laughed, and held up the victory sign._

"_Don't think we'll be able to get ramen today, Naruto." She said, laughing. "We got work to do!!"_

Chapter 8

Less than a week had gone by. Jotaro-sensei was still gone, so Squad 9 had to train with Squad 7. That… didn't turn out to well.

Once, the Squads went training by a river. They were working on teamwork—again—except the training had a twist. Kakashi split the two groups into teams of two. Akari was with Naruto, Kasumi was with Sakura, and Yuki was with Sasuke.

There were bound to be SOME kind of problems.

The two teammates were tied together at the waist. They had to climb over a huge wall using only their chakra. Winners got treated to Ichiraku by the losers.

This is what happened:

"Oi! Kasumi!" Sakura shouted from halfway up the wall. "C'mon!" Kasumi's hands and feet kept glowing and fading, making it difficult for her to climb.

"I'm coming!" She exclaimed. Naruto and Akari kept making jokes with each other as they climbed.

"Oi," Akari whispered. "Naruto." She tried not to laugh. "Ya know what… the back of Sasuke's head looks like…?" Naruto—puzzled—looked down. Yuki and Sasuke were way behind.

"What?" Naruto whispered. Akari began laughing.

"A duck's ass!" She exclaimed. Akari and Naruto laughed so hard they almost fell off of the wall. In fact, they did slip down a little. From the ground, all Kakashi could do was shake his head.

By far, Yuki and Sasuke were having the worst time.

"Pull your weight!" Sasuke shouted at Yuki.

"I am you dumbass!" She shouted back, "You're the one who needs to pull his own weight!" The two of them stared each other in the face, teeth barred and eyes narrowed.

"Move _faster_!" Sasuke shouted.

"You move _faster_!!" Yuki screamed back. By now, Naruto and Akari had reached the top of the wall and Sakura and Kasumi were almost there. "We're gonna lose you idiot!!"

"Shut up!" Sasuke shouted.

In the end, Akari and Naruto won, Kasumi and Sakura came in second—not even a minute behind them—and Sasuke and Yuki came in third—five minutes later.

* * *

So, a week later, the village of Konoha was getting excited. Akari walked down a small alley, headphones in her ears. She had her eyes closed and she was swaying down the path.

Suddenly, she slammed into something hard. Her eyes snapped open as she was bounced onto the ground and her earphones popped out of her ears.

"What the hell?" Akari muttered, looking up at what—or who—she'd slammed into. Standing in front of her was a tall man—maybe a few years older than she was—wearing all black and a black hood that looked like it had cat ears. Akari cocked her head to the side. The man turned around and Akari's eyes widened. In his hand was little Konohamaru.

"Watch where you're going." The man said, raising Konohamaru higher. Akari jumped up.

"Wh-what's going on?! Put him down!" She shouted. The man laughed. Akari noticed there was a blond haired girl next to the man. Her hair was tied in four ponytails.

"Why should I?" The man said, raising Konohamaru higher still. Little Konohamaru gave out a weak squeal.

"Stop!" A voice rang. Akari glanced over to the other side of the alley. There stood Naruto, Sakura, Moegi, and Udon looking extremely nervous.

"What in the…?" Akari whispered. She shook her head and growled. "You're gonna hurt him!" She shouted. Suddenly, a small rock came flying through the air and hit the man holding Konohamaru on a pressure point in his wrist. The man gasped and dropped Konohamaru right into Akari's arms.

Akari—startled—barely caught Konohamaru. When she did, his weight combined with the fact that she wasn't expecting that caused them both to fall flat on the ground.

Akari sat up and rubbed her head. "You ok?" She asked. Konohamaru nodded. "Good…" Konohamaru stood up and nervously bolted over to Naruto and the others. Akari followed, trying to duck under the man in black.

The man was obviously pissed. "Who's the rat who threw that?" He exclaimed.

"I did." A voice said. Sitting in the nearest tree was Sasuke, crushing rocks. "Back off." He snapped. The man growled and grabbed a piece of tape off of a large mummy looking sack that was tied to his back.

"Kankuro!" The blond haired girl shouted. "You're not gonna use the crow now are you?!"

Suddenly, a chill ran up Akari's spine. She froze and felt her heart begin to race.

"Kankuro," A cold voice said, "back off." All eyes shot towards the tree. "You're an embarrassment to our village." Hanging upside down by his feet was a boy around Akari's age. He had red hair and wore all kinds of straps over his body. The boy's eyes were icy blue and had multiple rings around them. He also had a kanji tattoo—love—over one of his eyes.

The man in black—Kankuro—scratched the back of his head.

"O…Oh hey Gaara…" He said nervously. " Umm… about this… they started it actually. Ya see—"

"Shut up…" The red headed boy—Gaara—cut in, "or I'll kill you…"

Now _EVERYONE_ was silent.

"Right…" Kankuro finally said, "Y-you're right, I was totally outta line, totally outta line…" In the blink of an eye, Gaara was standing next to Kankuro and the blond haired girl.

"Sorry for any trouble he caused." He said quietly. Then, he turned. "Let's go."

"Hold it." Sasuke demanded. "Who are you?" At first, no one said anything. Then, finally, Gaara turned around and addressed Sasuke.

"…I am Gaara… of the Desert." He said. "I'm curious about you too… who are you?"

"Sasuke Uchiha." Sasuke said blankly. Naruto jumped into the conversation.

"Bet you're dying to know my name, aren't ya?" Naruto exclaimed.

"I couldn't care less." Gaara stated. Naruto sweatdropped. Suddenly, as Gaara was turning to leave, his eyes and Akari's eyes locked. Another chill ran up her spine.

What seemed like hours to Akari might have only been minutes. Suddenly, Gaara's eyes seemed to widen a little. Then, his eyes narrowed. Akari gulped and took a step back; Gaara stepped forward. _Now_ Akari was worried. Her eyes flickered towards the ground and then back at the Suna ninja.

Suddenly, as Gaara was about to take another step forward, a kunai landed in between the two of them. Akari and Gaara both turned to the opposite fence.

"Whoops." A girl's voice said, "My bad." Sitting—or rather crouching—on the fence was Yuki. Akari breathed a sigh of relief.

'Thank you God!' She thought. Yuki wasn't looking at anything—or anyone—in particular. She was staring into the space between Gaara and Akari, her eyes a little wide. She was completely still too. The only thing that moved on her was her chest when she breathed.

Gaara was staring up at her, eyes narrowed. Then, Yuki blinked hard and turned to Gaara. Their eyes locked and neither one of them moved. Akari gulped, looking up at her friend. The mood had gone from freaky, to calm, to awkward, and then back to freaky in less than two minutes!

Then, Yuki blinked again and held her head. She closed her eyes. Finally, Gaara became fed up with the silence. He turned to Kankuro and the blond haired girl and began walking.

"We're leaving." He said coldly. Suddenly, Yuki blinked and fell backwards off of the fence. She hit the ground with a 'thud' and groaned.

"Yuki?!" Akari exclaimed, grabbing onto the fence and hoisting herself up and over. "You ok?" She asked in mid-jump.

By the time Akari had gotten over the fence, Yuki—still holding her head—had already begun walking away. Akari landed where Yuki had fallen and cocked her head to the side.

"I'm fine." Yuki called. "J-just… got a headache is all…"

Akari sighed. "O…ok." She said. "Thanks… for that." Yuki turned back and gave Akari a half smile and a thumbs-up.

"Don't mention it." She said. Yuki was holding the left side of her head and her left eye was closed. Whatever kind of headache Yuki had, it was sure giving her trouble.

"Good luck with the headache!" Akari called as Yuki began to walk away again.

"Thanks." Yuki called back. Akari smiled and hopped back over the fence. By now, Naruto and the others were gone. Groaning, Akari walked back down the alley.

"Damn…" She moaned. "They left me…"

Suddenly, Akari heard someone calling her name. Running down the alley, looking totally freaked out, was Kasumi.

"Akari-san!" She shouted, almost slamming into Akari.

"Whoa, whoa!" Akari exclaimed. "Kasumi?! What's wrong?!" Kasumi rested her hands on her knees and began panting. "I-it's terrible!"

Akari put her hands on Kasumi's shoulders. "Kasumi." She said, "What's going on?"

* * *

Kasumi and Akari dashed down the street. Kasumi looked worried, and Akari's face was emotionless.

"Are you sure this is what you heard?" Akari asked. Kasumi nodded.

"Positive." She said. "Jotaro-sensei's in trouble!" Akari barred her teeth as the two girls neared one of the training grounds. Kasumi jumped the fence and ran inside. Akari skidded to a halt before hitting the fence. Kasumi turned back towards Akari.

"C'mon!" She exclaimed. "What's wrong?" Akari's face was serious now. She was surveying her surroundings. Finally, Akari jumped over the fence and joined Kasumi.

Kasumi ran behind a few trees. "So," Akari began, "What _exactly _is happening?" Akari received no answer. Instead, she heard a scream. Startled, Akari ran behind the tree in search of Kasumi. "Kasumi?!" Akari shouted.

Kasumi had disappeared. Suddenly, Akari felt something behind her. She spun around and gave whatever was behind her a back kick.

A fairly large man wearing a hood was sent flying backwards. Akari slammed her foot down and growled.

"Ok," Akari began, "Spill it. Who are you?!"

The man stood up and laughed. Then, he came sprinting at Akari. Akari's eyes widened and she jumped into the air. She kicked the man in the back again and landed on the ground behind him—almost falling.

The man stood up. Akari pulled out a kunai and threw it at him. It caught the man's hood and pinned him against the tree. Akari jumped over to him and raised her fist for a punch.

But then, instead of attacking, she smiled and laughed. "Nice try…" She began, "Sensei…"

The man disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Out of the smoke came Seto Jotaro in full ANBU armor.

"How'd you know?" He asked. Akari smiled and relaxed her arm.

"When I put my hand on 'Kasumi's' shoulder," She said, "I could tell it wasn't her." She paused, beginning to walk away. "I just don't understand it…" She muttered. "You're an ANBU… shouldn't you be able to hide that kind of stuff…?

When Akari had left, Jotaro sighed. Again, he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"You're right, and wrong, Akari." A different voice said. From out of the smoke came Iruka. He laughed. "Looks like she's in…" He shook his head.

_Flashback:_

_The Hokage sat in a large room with dozens of Jonin around him. Asuma, Kurenai, Jotaro, and Kakashi were in the front._

"_Now," The old man began, "First we'll hear from those who have the new Genin." He paused. "Kakashi, Asuma, Kurenai, Jotaro… Well? Are there any Genin you would like to enter into the Chunin Exams?"_

_Iruka stood somewhere in the middle. 'He doesn't need to ask…' He thought, 'They aren't ready…'_

"_We'll start with Kakashi." The Third said. Kakashi nodded._

"_I lead Squad 7; Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, and Uzumaki Naruto." He said. "Under the name Hatake Kakashi, I nominate all three of them for the Chunin Exams."_

_Iruka's eyes widened. Kurenai was next._

"_I lead Squad 8," She began, "Inuzuka Kiba, Hyuga Hinata, and Aburame Shino. Under the name Yuhi Kurenai, the same as to my left."_

_Asuma was next in line. "I lead Squad 10," He began as the others had. "Yamanako Ino, Nara Shikamaru, and Choji Akimichi. Under the name Sarutobi Asuma, same as _my_ left."_

_Next—and finally—came Jotaro._

"_I lead Squad 9." He said from behind his mask. "Hisako Yuki, Hideki Kasumi, and Kak—"_

"_Wait a second!" Iruka exclaimed._

"_What is it, Iruka?" The Hokage asked._

"_Hokage-sama!" Iruka exclaimed, "Let me have a word!" He paused. "I may be speaking out of line, but these twelve… were students of mine at the academy! Of course, they're very talented, but they're not ready to take the exams! They need more experience!"_

_Kakashi cut in. "I became a Chunin when I was six years younger than Naruto." He said. Iruka steamed._

"_Naruto is different from you!" He shouted. Jotaro cleared his throat._

"_I don't mean to interrupt," He began, "But Hisako Yuki and Hideki Kasumi were—as you know—held back, whether they wanted to be or not. _They _are ready."_

"_And what about Akari?!" Iruka shouted. Jotaro sighed._

"_Remember who she is." He said; Iruka's—and possibly the rest of the room's— expressions changed. "And remember who she's destined to become. I've seen it in her already… She's almost _her_ spitting image."_

"_Y-yeah but—" Iruka tried to continue._

"_Plus," Jotaro continued, "She's not from here. She probably knows a little bit more, if anything about the Chunin Exams than Genin who have taken it!" He paused; Iruka was still angry. "Akari will probably surpass all of _them_ someday. She needs to learn about who she is, and the only way to do that is through this kind of thing. She has more possibility than most of _us_."_

"_Jotaro," Kakashi cut in, "I agree with you, for the most part, but what are you going to do when _it_ comes into play?"_

_Jotaro sighed and shook his head. "I'm not exactly sure." He said, "But I'll figure something out…"_

_End Flashback_

**So what's going on with Akari? and does anyone think I'm rushing this?**

**Also, a note to the people who made me OCs for the story, I'm really truly sorry, but I'm not sure I'm going to be able to use them any more. It's just, with the rewriting going on, I've been filling in some gaps and redoing some stuff, and I have more OCs to introduce that I should've when I first started. So again, I'm really sorry... I hope you understand.  
**

**Please Review!**


	9. Introducing, the Haijin Shinobi

**Hey everybody :D sorry about the wait… I was on vacation and I had writers' block again…**

**I'm gonna have a "The New Kid Facts" thing at the bottom of the chapters, starting now :D**

**Also, if anyone has any questions regarding the story/characters/whatever, you can always send me a message/review and I'll be happy to answer what I can :D**

**Or you can go to my page… where I have a lot of stuff on my Naruto and One Piece OCs… there might even be the occasional spoiler from time to time!**

**Ah, ok, I've done my rant… now on with the story~**

_Last Time:_

"And what about Akari?!" Iruka shouted. Jotaro sighed.

"Remember who she is." He said; Iruka's—and possibly the rest of the room's— expressions changed. "And remember who she's destined to become. I've seen it in her already… She's almost her spitting image."

"Y-yeah but—" Iruka tried to continue.

"Plus," Jotaro continued, "She's not from here. She probably knows more about the Chunin Exams than Genin who have taken it!" He paused; Iruka was still angry. "Akari will probably surpass all of them someday. She needs to learn about who she is, and the only way to do that is through this kind of thing. She has more possibility than most of us."

"Jotaro," Kakashi cut in, "I agree with you, for the most part, but what are you going to do when it comes into play?"

Jotaro sighed and shook his head. "I'm not exactly sure." He said, "But I'll figure something out…"

_End Flashback_

Chapter 9

The more Yuki thought about what had just happened, the more confused she became. It had been half an hour ago, but she felt like it had just happened.

Yuki's headache had gone away—for the most part. It had stopped hurting a few minutes after she had left Akari and those Suna ninja. She hoped Akari wouldn't get too curious. Shrugging it off, Yuki unconsciously walked towards the Hokage monument. Suddenly, her stomach started growling.

"Shut up…" Yuki moaned, putting her hand on her stomach. She sighed, muttering to herself, "I don't have any money on me either so…" Suddenly, Yuki stopped in her tracks. She had walked right up to the Hokage's mansion. Yuki sighed and stared up at the Hokages' faces carved into the mountain. She stuffed her hands in her pockets and laughed softly to herself.

_Hokage_… The word rung in Yuki's ears like a bell. _The Fifth Hokage… Hisako…_

Yuki closed her eyes and shook her head, cutting off her thought. "Pff… Like that'll ever happen…" she groaned, turning around.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Yuki walked out of a drink stand with a soda in one hand and a bag from a weapon shop in the other. She had Zabuza's blue gloves/arm warmers half tucked into her pocket. Yuki slowly walked down the street until she turned down another path. A few men stood outside of restaurants and bars with their arms crossed.

Yuki walked right past them, her eyes closed. The men looked at her strangely and started muttering something to themselves. Yuki took a sip of her drink and, apparently hearing something that had been said, she almost choked. The men became completely silent. Yuki shook off the comment and kept walking, not daring to turn around.

From inside one of the restaurants, Jotaro saw Yuki falter. He turned his attention to the men and sighed, taking a sip of his tea. "What do they know…" He whispered to himself solemnly.

Yuki picked up the pace after leaving the area with the men in it. She sighed and threw her empty cup away. After putting her bag down, she grabbed Zabuza's gloves from her pocket and roughly put them on. They were a little big, but fit, for the most part anyway.

Yuki walked down a small alley and up to a large, wooden fence. Graffiti covered it entirely, except for one tiny part; on the gate was a beat up piece of paper that had _'The Past Konoha Forgot' _scribbled on it with what looked like blue groaned out a sigh and pushed the fence's gate open. Inside the fence was a gray stone path that led up to a run-down looking building that looked like it'd been in a battle of some sort. Yuki walked up to the front door and slid it open with her foot. She flicked on a switch on the wall and the whole room lit up. The inside of the building looked much better than the outside, but it still could've used some work. The room Yuki had walked into was empty; she walked straight through it and slid open another door.

This room was the kitchen and living room because a wall between the two had been knocked out and made into a counter. Yuki placed her bag onto the table and sat down. She had a small table, one chair, a fridge, sink, and a lot of cabinets. Yuki put her foot over the table and leaned back in her chair. She sighed, glancing over at the clock. It was too early for dinner and too late for training. Yuki's eyes narrowed and she stood up. She untied her headband from her forehead and stared at it for a few seconds, almost anxiously. Then, she tossed it down on the table and walked back out of the building.

* * *

Kasumi walked out of a dango restaurant happily, finishing off her last bit of dango. She licked her lips and headed for home. She had just finished training and getting an early dinner.

"Can't wait to show Akari-san and Yuki-san my new jutsu…" Kasumi said to herself. "Now, if we go on another mission like the one to the Land of Waves, I'll be ready."

On the way home, Kasumi decided to take a small detour down a few alleys. As she turned down one alley, she spotted Yuki rush by. Kasumi blinked and ran after her friend.

"Y-yuki-san!" Kasumi called, appearing out of the alley; but Yuki had already taken off. Kasumi gulped and ran after Yuki.

After a few minutes, Yuki realized she was being followed and skidded to a halt. She was near the front of the village. Kasumi came running up behind her. "Kasumi…" Yuki said, facing the blond haired girl. Her face was emotionless, but suddenly, she smiled. "What's up?"

Kasumi blinked. "Eh…" she began. "Y-yuki-san, are you… ok?" She asked. Yuki's smile faded, but quickly reappeared into a smirk.

"Of course I am." She said confidently. "Why?"

Kasumi scratched the back of her neck. "N-no reason…" She mumbled. "Y-you just seemed a l-little… d-distressed…"

Yuki blinked at Kasumi, her smirk gone. Then, her eyes widened and she spun around. "Show yourself!" Yuki exclaimed.

Nothing happened. Kasumi gulped. "Y-yuki-san?" She asked.

"I know you're hiding, so come out." Yuki said darkly. Again, nothing happened.

Then, from the shadow one of the buildings around Kasumi and Yuki was giving off, a figure appeared. It was a girl about roughly thirteen or fourteen years old and she had snow white hair that was tied up almost like Anko's; her bangs were long—down to her ears maybe—but out of her face. Her eyes were deep blue and utterly emotionless. The girl wore a white and blue-tinted kimono looking outfit with the shoulders slit. Under it was a fishnet shirt; she wore short blue shorts under the kimono—which only came to about her knees. Her sleeves were long and covered both of her arms and hands completely. On her feet were dark blue, strap up shoes that strapped up to just below her knees. The girl stared at Yuki, coldly; Yuki stared back. Kasumi took a step back.

"Who are you?" Yuki said blankly.

"Who wants to know?" The girl said, crossing her arms. She spoke as blankly as Yuki had.

"I asked you first." Yuki said, eyes narrowed. The girl snickered.

"Ah, so you did." She said. "After all, it would be rude of me to not introduce myself in front of our _hosts_."

"'H-hosts'?" Kasumi repeated. "Wh-what—?"

Yuki cut her off. "She's talking about the Chunin Exams." She stated. "You're here for that, huh?" Yuki asked the girl.

The girl nodded. "Exactly." She cleared her throat. "My name is Zokusei Toami(1)… from Haijin(2)." She pointed to a blue headband tied on her forehead. The symbol looked like six little lines in two rows. The top row was slanted downward to the left, and the bottom was slanted upward to the right.

"Haijin, huh?" Yuki said. Kasumi walked up behind her.

"Wh-what's H-haijin?" She asked. Toami walked up to Yuki and Yuki stuck her hand out in front of her, offering a handshake. Kasumi noticed Yuki was wearing Zabuza's gloves.

Toami shook Yuki's hand, still expressionless. "Haijin, or Haijingakure," she began, "Is the Village Hidden in the Ashes and Dust." Toami crossed her arms again. "We're located in the Land of Mountains(3)… which is east of the Fire Country." She explained.

Kasumi nodded. "O-oh…" She said. Toami let go of Yuki's hand and groaned.

"Yes, well…" She began.

"Why were you watching us?" Yuki cut in. Toami blinked at her once, and then rolled her eyes.

"Actually, you ran into where I was looking." She hissed. Yuki's eyes narrowed once more. "Any more questions?" Toami asked teasingly.

"…Yeah…" Yuki began. "Where's the rest of your 'team'?"

"Off in Konoha somewhere…" Toami said as she began to walk around Yuki. "Look, this was nice… but I have _important_ things to do." She hissed.

Yuki sighed. "Whatever." She said as she started walking away from Toami. Kasumi stood in between the two parting girls. Finally, Kasumi started to catch up to Yuki.

"Y-yuki-san?" Kasumi asked worryingly.

Yuki stopped and sighed. "Are you going to do it?" She asked.

Kasumi blinked. "D-do what?" She asked.

Yuki turned around. "Enter the Chunin Exams?" She said. Kasumi's eyes widened. Yuki smirked and kept walking. "Jotaro-sensei already came to me about it… since I'm not a rookie anymore…"

Kasumi followed her. "Th-that's right…" She began. "L-last year… I didn't enter… I…I was too a-afraid to… A-and you were…" She trailed off.

Yuki ignored the last part. "What do you think?" She said, "Gonna go for it this time?" Kasumi stopped walking. She started down at the ground. Yuki, noticing, stopped and turned around. "K…Kasumi?" She said.

"I…" Kasumi began, "I don't know what I'm going to do…!" She exclaimed. "S-sensei already came to me t-too!" She looked up at Yuki. "I don't want to be a coward forever…"

"You're not a coward, Kasumi." Yuki said. "You're extremely brave. I've seen it. Who cares what other people think?!" Yuki put a hand on Kasumi's shoulder. "The decision's up to you." She said.

Yuki turned, stuffing her hands into her pockets, and began walking again. Kasumi stood in her spot for a moment, and then smiled. She nodded. "Th-thank you, Y-yuki-san." She whispered, turning to walk home.

* * *

Toami walked into a hotel room and closed the door carefully behind her. She groaned as she walked past a recliner chair. In it was a boy with ear-length black hair. He had a pair of blue goggles strapped over the headband on his forehead—which had the same symbol as Toami's. The boy wore a long sleeve, blue spandex top under a black chest guard. He had dark blue baggy pants and fishnet leg warmers under them. Next to the boy was a large blue and black shuriken looking weapon shaped into a circle; the tips of the blades on it were blue and the rest was blue-tinted.

Toami looked around the room and groaned angrily. The boy snored loudly and Toami kicked the chair. The boy shot up. "I'm up!" He exclaimed. His eyes were solid black, and wild from the scare. He looked up at Toami darkly. "Oi, Toami, what the hell was that for?!" He exclaimed.

"You idiot, Issui(4)." Toami snapped, "I was only gone a few minutes, and look what you've done already…"

"What?" The boy named Issui asked, rubbing his eyes. "So I took a little nap… so what?" Then, the boy looked around the room as well. Suddenly, his eyes widened and his mouth hung open. "Oh, don't tell me—"

"Mamoru's gone!" Toami exclaimed, grabbing Issui by the collar. "And if you don't find him, so help me, I'll…" Toami trailed off. She took a deep breath and went back to her emotionless expression. "If sensei finds out_ you_ lost him… He'll have _both_ of our heads."

Issui gulped. He jumped out of the chair and headed for the door. "And God knows what Mamoru's doing out there!"

Toami followed Issui to the door. "You better pray he hasn't killed anyone." She said darkly. Issui felt a shiver crawl up his spine.

"Y-yeah…" He mumbled as Toami slammed the hotel door shut. "I will…"

"We're the first, and only team from Haijin to enter the Chunin Exams," Toami began, "and you go and lose that… _maniac_ in less than a day…"

"The Takekage's(5) gonna kill us!" Issui exclaimed. Toami spun around and grabbed him by the collar again.

"I'm the one you should be worried about killing you now, Issui." She snapped, pushing him back a step as she let go of his shirt.

* * *

As she walked home, Yuki kept getting the feeling she was being watched. After a few minutes, the feeling was getting to her. Yuki jumped up onto the roof of a nearby building and found herself standing opposite of a boy. The boy had his arms crossed stiffly. Yuki took one look at him and stepped back a step.

"Y-you've been watching me too?" Yuki hissed as best as she could. The boy just stared at her. He had jet-black hair and his eyes were golden yellow, and his pupils were diamond shaped. The boy wore an orange and white one-armed robe looking garment that tied as his left hip. The bottom of the garment—which came down to about the middle of the boy's knee—was designed with an orange fire pattern, as was the right arm. Under the garment the boy wore an black, orange-tinted shirt with a fishnet left sleeve; the other side had no sleeve at all. The boy's pants were patched up, like they had been ripped multiple times, and they were black—they came down to the boy's ankles. The boy also wore a pair of sandals—picture Jiraiya's sandals, only tan.

Yuki balled her hands into fists. The boy's outfit was different than what people wore in Konoha, yes, but it was nothing compared to his skin. The boy's skin was _covered_ in thick blue lines and patterns. The main ones were over the boy's eyes, and they ran down the side of his face, under his shirt.

'H…his whole body must look like that…' Yuki thought, gulping. The boy kept staring at her. He blinked and Yuki flinched. She was just about to say something, when the boy spoke first.

"You're a Konoha kunoichi… correct?" He said, his voice cold, but emotionless at the same time. Yuki gulped.

"Y-yes." She said. The boy stared at her again. His eyes closed and he took a deep breath. A minute went by, at least.

"I see…" He said at last, opening his eyes. He turned around, probably to jump down.

Something told Yuki to make him wait, if only another minute. "Ah, wait!" She exclaimed. The boy stopped, but didn't turn around. "Uh…" Yuki began. "Who…who are you, anyway?"

"…Mamoru." The boy said emotionlessly. "That's all you need to know."

"You're… from Haijin… aren't you?" Yuki asked. The boy nodded, still not facing Yuki.

The two of them stood there for another minute or so, Mamoru still facing away from Yuki. Finally, he broke the silence. "…What… are you?" He asked.

Yuki was taken by surprise by his question. "Wh-what am I?" Yuki repeated. "You mean… _who_ am I?"

Mamoru said nothing at first. "…Sure." He said. Yuki gulped.

"I-I'm Hisako Yuki." She said proudly. Mamoru nodded again.

"I see." He said as he began walking towards the edge of the roof again. "Farewell for now, Hisako Yuki." He said; suddenly, he launched himself off of the roof and landed gracefully on the ground below.

Yuki let out a long sigh. "M-mamoru…" She breathed. "I feel bad for the poor Genin that has to fight him…" Yuki shook her head, pulling herself together. "And that feeling…" She whispered to herself, "such killer intent…"

**Ta~daa~!! **

**So… how was it? I had SO much trouble writing it! I had like 5 chapters already written, but then I forgot to add Mamoru, Issui, and Toami into it, so I have to start over now! *dies***

**Anyway, on to explanations…**

**1- Zokusei Toami – "Zokusei" means "earthly life" and "Toami" means "casting net" …you'll find out later why ^-^**

**2- Haijin – It's a village I made up… not very important, but the explanation is in the story.**

**3- Land of Mountains – Made that up too…**

**4- Issui – "Issui" means "a current of water" or "a nap/short sleep"**

**So… please review and tell me what you think!!**

**The New Kid Fact #1**

**My original idea for what I would do with the story was that it was going to be a boredom story.**

**I would've written a chapter whenever I got bored and hope for the best.**

**But after a while, I decided to really make this story important.**


	10. The Written Exam

**Aaah it's been so long since I updated!! I've had major writer's block in ALL of my stories, but I think I finally got some inspiration enough to finish this chapter!**

_Last Time:_

"_You're… from Haijin… aren't you?" Yuki asked. The boy nodded, still not facing Yuki._

_The two of them stood there for another minute or so, Mamoru still facing away from Yuki. Finally, he broke the silence. "…What… are you?" He asked._

_Yuki was taken by surprise by his question. "Wh-what am I?" Yuki repeated. "You mean… _who_ am I?"_

_Mamoru said nothing at first. "…Sure." He said. Yuki gulped._

"_I-I'm Hisako Yuki." She said proudly. Mamoru nodded again._

"_I see." He said as he began walking towards the edge of the roof again. "Farewell for now, Hisako Yuki." He said; suddenly, he launched himself off of the roof and landed gracefully on the ground below. _

_Yuki let out a long sigh. "M-mamoru…" She breathed. "I feel bad for the poor Genin that has to fight him…" Yuki shook her head, pulling herself together. "And that feeling…" She whispered to herself, "such killer intent…" _

Chapter 10

The next morning, Akari woke up early. She sat up in her bed and blinked groggily. She yawned and looked at her clock.

7:34

Akari moaned and lay back down. She put her hands behind her head and sighed. She _really _didn't want to get up. Well, half of her did, half of her didn't.

Today was the beginning of the Chunin Exams.

* * *

By the time Akari had completely woken up and had gotten out of bed, it was 8:30. She stumbled out of her bedroom and into her kitchen. She opened her screen enough for her head to stick through and she stuck it out. She could smell Ichiraku's ramen from her balcony.

Smiling, Akari shut the screen door and walked into the kitchen. She popped a microwave ramen pack into the microwave and walked back into her bedroom. She opened her closet and yawned.

Akari grabbed her usual outfit and held it up against her body. She cocked her head to one side. She raised an eyebrow at herself in the mirror. Then, sighing, she threw the outfit onto her bed. "Nah…" She muttered.

Akari went sifting through her closet for something else to wear. Finally, she found something. Smiling, she held the outfit against her body; it was a short sleeve, green camouflage shirt with black sleeves. Akari nodded and slipped the shirt on.

Instead of tying her hair in a ponytail like she would normally do, Akari left her hair down and stuck a hair tie in her pocket. Akari had put on a pair of jet-black Capri pants. She had her kunai holster strapped to her right leg and she tied her Konoha headband around her neck.

To complete her outfit, Akari dug through her dresser drawer and pulled out a pair of black, fingerless gloves with metal plates on the back—like Kakashi's.

After examining herself in the mirror, Akari nodded and smiled. Then, she heard the beeping of the microwave and ran into the kitchen.

* * *

After she was done eating, Akari grabbed her gear and registration papers—for the Exam—and hurried out the door. By now it was 9:54. The exams started at eleven.

Akari ran down the hall and hopped over the guardrail. She landed—barely—in front of Ichiraku.

"Hey! Akari!" Teuchi—the owner—exclaimed. "How 'bout some ramen?"

"Sorry Mr. Teuchi!" Akari called, running down the street. "I've gotta get going! I'm taking the Chunin Exams!!"

Teuchi blinked, then smiled. "Good luck!!" He yelled. Akari smiled.

"Thank you!" She called back.

Akari ran down a busy street and almost slammed into a few people. After a while, she skidded down an alley and tried to find a shortcut.

That… didn't really work.

In only a matter of minutes, Akari had gotten lost. Frustrated with herself and worrying that she would be late, Akari wandered down random alleys.

* * *

At least half an hour later, Akari finally found her way to Konoha's main street. Sighing, she walked up to a large building—the building the Chunin Exams would take place.

Shaking her head, Akari smiled and walked confidently into the building. She followed a group of Genin up a few flights of steps until she finally came to a HUGE room filled with dangerous looking people.

But one thing caught her eye: Naruto's orange-ness. Akari breathed a sigh of relief and tried looking for her team. She spotted Yuki leaning against a wall in the front—foot holding her up—and Kasumi with the rest of the Rookie Nine.

Suddenly, the doors flew open and a few men walked in. Akari turned around and her eyes went wide; the lead man's face was covered in scars. Akari slowly backed away until she was with her friends.

The man spoke up. "Quiet down you maggots." He demanded. "Each of you will get a number that corresponds to a seat." He paused. "When you get your number take your seat and we'll begin the written test."

The whole room grew silent. Naruto's eyes were wide as well as Kasumi and Akari's. Yuki, from the corner of the room, smirked.

'NO!' Akari thought. 'A _written _test?!'

The man with the scars passed out pieces of paper with numbers on it. Akari got number 85. Sighing, she took her seat.

A minute later, the Genin that would sit next to her sat down. Peering out of the corner of her right eye, Akari saw a flicker of red hair.

She swore her heart skipped a beat.

It was _Gaara_!

Mentally flipping out, she turned to whoever would be to her left. She also flipped out over this person. It was a woman with black hair and black eyes. She wore a tan and black outfit with a purple rope tied around it. She had a Grass Village headband on as well.

Something about this woman freaked Akari out. She couldn't really tell what about her made her uneasy, but it was definitely something.

The man with the scars passed out the test papers in silence. He proceeded to explain the rules of the test and then was silent.

"You have three hours!" He announced at the end. "Begin!!"

Akari flipped her paper over and her eyes shot wide.

_Math_. Shit!

Akari groaned and literally slammed her head on the desk. She noticed Gaara roll his eyes and continue looking at his paper.

This was going to be a long three hours…

* * *

Meanwhile, at number 62…

Hisako Yuki stared blankly at her test paper. Half of it looked like gibberish. She blinked and her eye zipped to the corner. She was sitting next to the two worst people she could possibly sit next to—in her opinion: Uchiha Sasuke, and a Cloud Village ninja.

Great.

Always hating other villages, Yuki _loathed_ the Cloud Village with a passion. No one—not even Jotaro—knew why. Or if they did, they weren't about to tell anyone.

Yuki also loathed Sasuke, but maybe a little less than the Cloud Village. She and Sasuke had always been archrivals ever since Yuki entered the academy.

Suddenly, a chill ran down Yuki's spine. The shinobi in front of her had his headband on backwards, acting as somewhat of a mirror. Yuki peered into the metal plate and her eye twitched. That Mamoru kid was sitting behind her. Yuki gulped and looked down at her paper. She groaned.

Yuki rested her head in one hand. She rolled her eyes slightly and for a split second noticed a small mirror in the ceiling. Knowing she couldn't turn around, Yuki just stared at it, hoping to see where it came from. But she had no luck.

'Huh…' Yuki thought, 'somebody's cheating…' Then she noticed a few others cheating as well. She could see Inuzuka Kiba talking to his dog, Sasuke had his Sharingan activated, and that Gaara freak was using some kind of foreign jutsu.

That's when Yuki noticed Akari. She seemed shaken up by something. Then, she remembered what had happened the other day. Shaking her head, Yuki began drumming her fingers on the desk.

Finally growing bored, Yuki did what she thought was necessary: she cautiously pressed her hands together and performed a strange hand sign. She muttered something under her breath and a small dark cloud began forming above the person in front of her. The boy's hair began to stand on end and soon he tried to flatten his hair down.

Smirking to herself, Yuki took her chance. A small yellow streak slowly glided down in front of the bust kid and Yuki could see the reflection of his paper. Laughing silently, she dispersed the jutsu and scribbled down some answers.

Yuki could feel Mamoru's eyes on her as she cheated. He was probably doing something to look off of her paper, but at the moment, she wasn't concerned with that.

* * *

Over at 33…

Hideki Kasumi was having it easy at the back of the room. For once, she was confident and relaxed.

Her red eyes had turned white and the whites of her eyes were red. She held her hands in a strange position and sat as still as a stone.

What she was looking at would've been undetected by the normal human eye. But from Kasumi's point of view, everything was gray… except for the people around her.

Sitting in front of her was Haruno Sakura. The only thing Kasumi could see of her was a pink outline and thousands of pink threads all through her body…

Her chakra threads.

To people with Kasumi's kekke genkai, they can see people's chakra by different colors. Granted, some people have the same color, so the technique isn't without its flaws.

Not only could Kasumi see Sakura's chakra, she could also see where it had been. Concentrating, she found her chakra marks on her paper and began to copy them as best as she could.

Piece of cake.

* * *

Two hours and forty-five had gone by and Akari hadn't gotten a single answer.

Now she was freaking out.

She glanced out of the corners of her eyes for something—anything to copy.

Suddenly, the person to her right did the most unexpected thing imaginable; he shifted his paper over an inch.

Akari froze for a moment. She glanced up at the shinobi next to her—and then remembered who it was, and her eyes widened.

_Gaara_ was trying to _help_ her!

Akari stared at him for a second. He avoided eye contact. Akari felt her breath caught in her throat. The only thing she could force out was a muffled, "Wha…?"

Gaara glanced over at her out of the corner of his eye. "I want to fight your teammate." He said darkly. Akari was taken aback, but she was somewhat relieved… and still freaked at the same time. "Hisako Yuki… right?"

Akari nodded slightly. Gaara closed his eyes.

"She can't advance if _you_ keep holding her back." He snapped, with malice. Akari blinked, but said nothing. "You and that blond girl… _pathetic_…"

Now Akari felt a little anger, but still kept quiet.

Gaara continued quietly. "If she doesn't advance… I'll come after her anyway… but if she doesn't… I'm coming after _you_ as well…"

Akari's eyes widened and suddenly she felt the urge to cheat!

So she did, furiously scribbling down Gaara's answers.

* * *

Although she only got a few answers down—due to Gaara's handwriting and the pressure she felt—Akari felt like she was doing ok…

…Until the man with the scars began to speak again.

"Stop writing!" He ordered. "It's time for the tenth question." He paused. "I'll warn you… if you chicken out and don't want to answer the question, you may leave now and take the exams another time." He paused again as a few Genin sighed in relief. "However…" He continued. "If you attempt to answer the question and get it wrong… you'll NEVER be able to take the exams EVER again. You will stay a Genin for the rest of your lives. Got it?"

The entire room was silent. From the back, Kasumi sat with her mouth slightly ajar. Yuki's eyes were narrowed like slits. Akari's heart was racing.

'The only reason I got this far was because of Gaara!' She thought, glancing over at the Sand Ninja. 'I'm dead!' She looked around and tried to find Naruto. 'It'd be better if I just quit while I'm ahead! I can always take the exam next year, right? … Right…?'

There was a long, eerie pause. At first no one said anything. But then, gradually, Genin began to stand up and leave the room. Akari's heart was still beating fast.

Suddenly, Naruto stood up, hands balled into fists. Akari's eyes widened. She never in a million years thought Naruto would back down.

Naruto barred his teeth together and took a deep breath. Then, he laughed loudly and slammed his fist on the desk.

"If you think I'd back down that easily, you're dead WRONG!!" He shouted. Everyone was silent. "I'm in 'til the end!!"

In a few seconds, a few others—including the rest of the Rookie Nine—began standing up exclaiming 'Me too!' and 'Me three' and so on.

But no one in Squad Nine said anything. Finally, from the back of the room, Hideki Kasumi slowly stood up. Akari turned around to find her friend looking confident and sure of herself; Yuki was leaning back in her chair, hands folded across her chest. Her eyes were closed and she had a blank look on her face.

Kasumi took a deep breath. "I… I may have chickened out last time…" She began, "B-but I'm not going anywhere this time!!"

From the middle of the two Squad Nine teammates, Yuki smirked. She opened her eyes and raised one hand.

"You can't get rid of us that easy." She said emotionlessly. Akari bit her lip. Could she do this?

And then she realized something.

Already, in her thirteen years on this earth, she'd been teleported through dimensions—_twice_—survived crazy antics with Uzumaki Naruto, ninja training with Iruka, crazy and ridiculous missions, almost getting killed a few times by a Mist Ninja maniac, standing face to face—eye to eye—with Sabuka no Gaara, and survived training sessions with an ANBU black op.

_OF COURSE _she could do this!!

Drawing up as much courage as she could, Akari shot out of her seat, causing Gaara to give her a weird look, and thrust her finger at the man with the scars.

"Team Nine," She began, "WILL SURVIVE THIS THING 'TIL THE END!! We're not backing down, and we NEVER will!!"

The man with the scars' eyes narrowed, but then, he smiled.

"Well then," He began, "Congratulations. You all pass."

Akari, Yuki, and Kasumi all blinked curiously. Yuki raised an eyebrow and sat upright in her chair.

"Wh-what the hell?" Akari managed.

The man with the scars smiled. "You heard me." He continued. "You all pass. The tenth question was to see if you had the confidence to take it to the next level. And you all had that confidence."

After a small moment of silence, the entire room erupted with cheers and laughter. Akari and Naruto turned to each other and gave the victory sign, laughing. Akari turned towards Kasumi and did the same. She gave Akari the thumbs up and smiled. Then, Akari turned to Yuki and smiled, flashing the thumbs up, but something was wrong…

Yuki had both hands gripping her head; she had her middle finger pressed against her temples; her eyes were squeezed shut and her teeth were barred.

Overall, she looked in pain.

**I'm happy with how this came out ^-^ I actually had this chapter already written up, but when the Haijin shinobi came in, it was a major setback. Luckily, all I needed to do in this chapter was edit a little ^-^**

**So let me know what you think, and Please Review!!**

**The New Kid Fact #2**

**Originally, Yuki, Kasumi, and Jotaro were place-fillers.**

**Yuki and Kasumi weren't supposed to have major roles, but now they really do.**

**The two of them weren't supposed to go on the Land of Waves mission either.**


	11. Forest of Death and Part 1 of Prelims

**Huh? What's this? Two chapters in one day?! It must be a freaking MIRACLE!!**

**Well, kinda… I figured I owe you guys for sticking with me for this long… and I'm sick… so I have plenty of time!!**

_Last Time:_

_The man with the scars smiled. "You heard me." He continued. "You all pass. The tenth question was to see if you had the confidence to take it to the next level. And you all had that confidence."_

_After a small moment of silence, the entire room erupted with cheers and laughter. Akari and Naruto turned to each other and gave the victory sign, laughing. Akari turned towards Kasumi and did the same. She gave Akari the thumbs up and smiled. Then, Akari turned to Yuki and smiled, flashing the thumbs up, but something was wrong…_

_Yuki had both hands gripping her head; she had her middle finger pressed against her temples; her eyes were squeezed shut and her teeth were barred._

_Overall, she looked in pain._

Chapter 10

"Y-yuki?" Akari whispered, worryingly.

Suddenly, someone from outside screamed and the window exploded in a flash of glass. "Alright you maggots!!" A woman's voice shouted. "I am Mitarashi Anko! You're next exam proctor!"

The man with the scars sweatdropped and cleared his throat. "Anko…" He began, "You're early."

Anko sweatdropped as well. "Ah… w-well…" She cleared her throat. "L-let's get going!!" She exclaimed enthusiastically.

Akari spun back around. Yuki was sitting in her seat, smiling like nothing had happened. But the way she looked… Something definitely _had_ happened.

* * *

When they finally reached the next exam, Anko walked to the front of the genin. "Welcome to the Forest of Death!" She exclaimed. "Each of your teams will get either a heaven or an earth scroll. The object of this exam is to get both scrolls and get to the tower in the middle of the forest within three days!"

The "Forest of Death" was huge. It had a chain-link fence wrapped around it and the trees were easily fifty feet tall, at the least.

"Each of you will get a scroll." Anko began, "I'll be passing around papers that need to be signed. Once you've done that get in your group and come over to that booth," She pointed to a tent looking booth by the forest, "to get your scroll."

Akari sheepishly raised her hand. "Um… what're the papers for?"

Anko gave her a weird look. "…Let's just say it's… in case you don't pass… _at all_."

A chill ran up Akari's spine and she gulped. "Ah, g-great…" she said, "Thanks…"

Next to her, Akari, Yuki crossed her arms behind her head and smiled. She was still wearing Zabuza's arm warmers.

"What do you guys think it'll be like in there?" She asked, eyes half closed and staring at the top of the forest.

Kasumi gulped. "…N-no clue…" she said. "I-I don't even wanna go in there at all…" Kasumi turned to Akari; Yuki soon turned slowly as well. "What do you think, Akari?"

Akari blinked. "Er… well…" she glanced over at the forest again, then back at her friends. "I'm sure we'll get through."

"How… how can you be so calm?" Kasumi asked. "A-and sure about this!"

Akari shrugged. "Dunno… I just have a feeling… I g-guess…" she mumbled.

* * *

After every team received a scroll, they began lining up along the fence at the gate they chose. Akari, Yuki, and Kasumi picked the gate next to Team 7. Naruto was cracking his knuckles, Sasuke had his arms crossed with a smirk on his face, and Sakura was swooning over him—again.

Akari took a look at her team. Yuki was staring up at the forest, arms crossed, and Kasumi was fumbling with her headband. Akari looked down at herself. She had all of her gear: kunai, shuriken, food, a few medical supplies, and of course… Akari put her hand on her pocket and smiled. She'd use _that_ sometime later.

"Get ready!" Anko shouted. Akari sighed and faced the gate. Looking up at the trees, her heart sank, and she realized something—_SHE WAS TERRIFIED! _"BEGIN!" Anko screamed.

The gate doors flew open and all of the genin raced in. Akari stood in place. "C'mon, Akari!" Yuki called. Akari snapped out of her trance and nodded.

"Sorry!" she exclaimed, running after her teammates. Akari caught up to Kasumi and Yuki easily.

"A-are you ok?" Kasumi asked. Akari cleared her throat.

"O-oh yeah." She said. "I'm fine…" 'Liar.' She thought.

Yuki laughed. "So all we need to do is get the earth scroll, right?" She asked.

"Yep…" Kasumi mumbled. Yuki stretched, closing her eyes.

"Fair enough…" She said. "Grab a scroll, get to the middle of the forest… no biggy…" Yuki opened her eyes and found Kasumi and Akari's faces filled with terror. Yuki blinked. "O-oi?" she said. "You guys ok?"

Timidly, Kasumi lifted her arm and pointed behind Yuki. Suddenly, the blue haired girl felt hot air on her neck. She blinked again, her eyes wide.

"Crap…" Yuki muttered. She slowly reached into her pocket and pulled out a kunai. Then, in an instant, she spun around and flung the kunai at whatever was behind her. It hit, but bounced off of it like a ball. Yuki stumbled and fell over, in awe at the… _thing_ behind her.

It must have been at least fifty feet long and its eyes were glowing bright yellow—It was a snake… a damn _BIG_ snake!

"Holy—!!" Yuki began to scream, but was cut off when it hissed like a roar and thrust its massive head at the girls. Trying to get up, Yuki was hit directly and flew into a tree.

"Yuki!" Kasumi shouted. The snake spotted her and the two of them locked eyes. Akari stood hesitantly a few feet away.

"K-kasumi…" Akari whispered. "Don't move!"

Kasumi gulped. The snake hissed, swaying back and forth. Slowly, Kasumi lifted her hands up into a strange position. Akari was about to step in, when suddenly, Kasumi's eyes changed. They turned white, and the whites of her eyes turned red. Akari blinked.

Kasumi blinked and the snake lunged. Kasumi jumped into the air and did a flip over the snake's head. Akari jumped back as its head slammed into the ground next to her.

"What the hell?!" She shouted. She glanced in the direction the three girls had come from. She could still see the gate!

Out of the corner of her eye, Akari saw a flash of yellow streak down the snake's back: Kasumi. She was staring down at the snake as she ran, and she had her hands held in the hand sign from earlier.

Kasumi jumped into the air and landed next to Akari. Her eyes were back to normal.

"Wh-what did you DO?" Akari asked.

Kasumi scratched the back of her head. "W-well…" She mumbled, "I-it's part of my kekke genkai." She said. "Um…"

Akari stared at her friend, her mouth slightly open. 'Wh-where'd this come from all the sudden?' she thought. Kasumi had always been the one to hang back while the others did their thing. But in this situation, Yuki had… disappeared, and Akari wasn't doing practically anything!

"The snake had some kind of injury a while ago that hasn't healed yet." Kasumi said, snapping Akari back into reality. "If we can attack that spot, we may be able to take it down long enough to find Yuki and get outta here."

She glanced over at Akari and Akari nodded furiously. "Where are we attacking?" she asked. Kasumi sighed.

"I-I'm going to do it." She said. Akari blinked.

"Are you crazy?!" she exclaimed. Kasumi shook her head.

"I-it's an internal injury." She said, "and only I can see it." She pressed her hands together again and her eyes changed again. Then, she took off. "Find Yuki!" She exclaimed as she jumped onto the snake. Akari nodded.

She ran around the snake and in the direction Yuki had flown. 'Kasumi…' she thought, 'I hope you know what you're doing…'

Suddenly, a tree in front of her exploded in a furry of wood chips and static. "Damn snake!!" A voice shouted: Yuki. She was standing on the tree stump—five feet above the ground—with her hands balled into fists.

"Yuki!" Akari called. Yuki cracked her knuckles and looked down at her.

"Akari?" She said. "…Where's Kasumi?"

"U-up there!" Akari exclaimed, pointing at the snake. Suddenly, Kasumi screamed; she came flying at Yuki. Kasumi slammed directly into Yuki, and the two of them fell backwards.

"Damnit!" she exclaimed. "Oi, Kasumi, you ok?"

The blond haired girl stood up and brushed herself off. "Yeah." She said. "T-taking it down from the inside isn't going to work…"

Kasumi glanced over at Yuki and smiled. Yuki blinked, and then joined her. They both turned to Akari. "Stay here." They said in unison, before taking off towards the snake. Akari just stood in place, not sure of what to do.

Yuki stood in front of the snake and whistled. "Hey! Down here!" She exclaimed. The snake looked down at her and hissed.

Kasumi had jumped into a tree and was performing a few hand signs. Then, she jumped out of the tree and fell onto the snake's head. She slammed her hands onto its head. "Chakra Drain Jutsu!!" She shouted. The snake froze. Then suddenly, it thrashed around wildly in pain. It made a low screeching noise.

Kasumi swiftly jumped off of the snake and landed on her toes next to Yuki. "H-how was that?" she asked. Yuki and Kasumi punched fists and watched as the snake collapsed.

Akari still stood in place, mouth wide open. "H-how…?" she managed

Yuki and Kasumi had their arms wrapped around each other's shoulders. "Kasumi drained its chakra." Yuki said. "_All_ of it."

Kasumi scratched the back of her head and laughed. Her eyes were back to normal. "W-well… Most of it…" she said, smiling.

"C'mon guys," Yuki said, walking ahead. "I think it's getting late. Let's find some place to set up camp."

* * *

Once the girls had gotten deep enough into the forest to settle down, they had split up. Yuki was going to scout around for scrolls, Kasumi went to get water, and Akari was going to find some more food. She ran through the bushes looking for anything edible.

After a while, she crouched down, thinking she'd found something, when something grabbed her.

"Ah!!" She screamed. A hand slapped over her mouth and someone pulled her to the ground.

"Shhhh!" The person said. Akari looked up at her captor; it was Kiba.

"Mmff…" Akari said, muffled by Kiba's hand. Kiba's hand slowly slid off of her face. "K-kiba?" Akari said clearly now. Hinata, Akamaru, and Shino were also crouched down. They both looked freaked out. Akari looked at Kiba again. He looked panicky too.

Akari peered out through the bushes and gasped. Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro were standing in a small clearing. There was blood and sand everywhere. Akari gulped.

"A-are you guys ok?" She asked. Shino nodded hesitantly; Hinata's whole body was shaking violently.

"Y-yeah…" Kiba said hoarsely. Akari glanced back out through the bushes and began softly laughing uneasily. "A-are you laughing?!" Kiba whispered.

"Uh…" Akari muttered. "W-well, kinda—"

"Are you some kind of psychopath?!" Kiba exclaimed, cutting Akari off.

From the clearing, Gaara turned around and began to leave the area. Akari shifted to get a better view. However, because of the cramped spot, her foot kicked a root, sending her tumbling out of the bush all together.

"Crap…!"Akari almost shouted. Temari and Kankuro spun around, looked at each other and gulped, and then quickly turned away like nothing had ever happened. Akari breathed a sigh of relief. But just as she thought she was safe, Gaara turned around. Hinata's squeal could be heard from the bush.

Akari's eyes widened; her heart raced and she felt like she couldn't breath. Gaara took a few steps forward and his eyes narrowed. He crossed his arms and looked down at her wickedly.

"…What're you doing here?" He snapped coldly. Akari's heart practically skipped a beat.

"W-well, I-I-I-I…" she stuttered. 'I'm screwed…' Akari thought. Gaara took another step forward and the sand around Akari began to move.

"You're spying on us, aren't you?" He said, a slight anger in his tone.

Akari gulped. "N-n-no!" She exclaimed, sitting up. "I-I-I just c-came to get some…" Her voice trailed off. Hers and Gaara's eyes locked. They sent a chill up Akari's spine once again.

Akari bit her lip. Yuki wasn't going to be here to save her this time. Gaara raised his hand and the sand began wrapping around Akari's arms. She screamed at the top of her lungs, trying furiously to brush the sand off. And then suddenly, the sand stopped. Akari looked back up at Gaara, terrified. His eyes weren't exactly wide, but they weren't narrowed either. He looked like he was zoned out or something.

Akari wasn't going to miss this opportunity. She jumped up and darted for the woods, brushing sand off of her arms and legs. Akari slammed herself against a tree after running for a few minutes. She slowly slid down the trunk and tried to catch her breath. Suddenly, she lost control of herself and broke down. That was the closest she'd ever come to death… and well, the ONLY time she'd come close to death (not counting falling off of the bridge in the fight with Zabuza because she was knocked out).

Akari took her headband off and set it down shakily next to her. She tried taking deep breaths to calm herself down, and when she was ready, she tied her headband on her head.

* * *

When Akari got back to camp, she found that Kasumi had already found some food. Akari was relieved, and unsure whether she should tell her team what happened. But at the last minute, she decided against it.

* * *

Yuki stayed up all night—again—on lookout. But in the morning, she got Akari and Kasumi up early.

"If we get up earlier than everyone else," she began, "we should be able to swipe a scroll easily!"

"Ok." Kasumi said. Akari nodded. The girls began packing up their stuff as the sun rose.

Akari hadn't gotten much sleep that night. She kept thinking of Gaara, and how he hadn't killed her. He… held back… for some reason. And that reason bothered her.

He _did_ say he needed Akari to get through the exam so he could fight Yuki, right? So that could've been it. But on the other hand, he could just fight Yuki in the forest, and at first, Gaara didn't look like he was going to stop.

Kasumi snapped Akari out of her thoughts when she announced they were leaving. Akari grabbed her things and followed her friends.

Walking at the back of their little line, Akari realized something. Thinking back to the incident with the snake, and how she'd completely lost it when she was face to face with Gaara, she realized how… insignificant she was compared to Yuki and Kasumi.

As stubborn and laidback as Yuki was, she was one hell of a fighter, and she'd proven that in the Land of Waves: saving Akari from the Demon Brothers, going almost head to head with Zabuza while Akari fell off of the bridge, and seeming as if nothing fazed her.

And as shy and hesitant as she was, Kasumi had also kicked that snake's ass. She sucked all of its chakra out! And she acted like a different person when she used her kekke genkai.

And what did Akari have? Taijutsu, some ninjutsu, and… She put her hand in her pocket and sighed sadly. She probably wouldn't have a chance to use _that_.

Suddenly, Kasumi and Yuki stopped. Kasumi was using her kekke genkai again. "I found someone who's got an earth scroll." She said.

"How?" Akari asked.

"I can see other people's chakra." Kasumi stated. "Where they've been… you know." Akari nodded uneasily. "Let me see the scroll for a minute." Kasumi said, seeing that Akari was totally lost. Akari handed her the heaven scroll. "You remember how there were two men in the booth right?" she asked, "Well, while we were getting the scroll I concentrated on both of their chakras. The man with the earth scrolls, to me, seemed to have yellowish chakra, while the other man had green. If I'm not mistaken, our scroll should have green chakra on it." Kasumi looked down at the scroll and smiled. "Yep. Green." She said. "And the team I found has yellow chakra."

"Where are they?" Yuki asked. Kasumi pointed to her left; Yuki cracked her knuckles. "I'll handle 'em." She said, pulling out her sword. The girls jumped into a tree and quickly found the team with the earth scroll.

Suddenly, Yuki jumped down. The team was from the Hidden Grass village, and they were caught completely off guard.

"Wh-who're you?" A grass village ninja shouted. Yuki had her sword pointed to his neck.

"Konoha kunoichi." She said slyly. Kasumi jumped out of the tree and Akari followed. "Now give us the scroll."

The Grass ninja had obviously just woken up. One was still in his sleeping bag and the other was brushing his teeth.

"O-ok!!" The Grass ninja Yuki was dealing with exclaimed. He slowly grabbed a bag and pulled out a small blue scroll. He gulped and tossed the scroll at Akari. Just as she was about to catch it, Kasumi gasped and tackled her.

"Are you crazy?!" Akari exclaimed. Seconds later, the scroll—which had landed behind the—exploded. Akari gasped.

That scroll had a paper bomb on it!" Kasumi exclaimed, standing up.

"A fake, huh?"Yuki growled. She shifted her sword so it was on the man's neck. She gently pressed and his neck began to bleed. He gasped. "Give—Us—That—Scroll!!" She exclaimed. Her sword began to glow yellow. "I swear, if you don't…"

The grass ninja brushing his teeth stepped forward. Kasumi stepped up and her eyes changed again.

"T-take another step, I dare you." She snapped. The grass ninja gulped.

"H-here!" A voice said. The last Grass ninja—the one in his sleeping bag—pulled another blue scroll out of another bag and rolled it across the ground. Yuki stopped it with her foot. "I-it's the real thing!" The Grass ninja exclaimed.

Yuki smiled. "Let's go!" She shouted, picking the scroll up. Yuki turned to leave, followed by Kasumi. Akari was hesitant. But finally, she followed.

As they began to run off Yuki put her hand in a hand sign and whispered something. Suddenly, the trees surrounding the Grass Ninja's camp exploded..

Akari stopped dead. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was hanging open. "What the… what the hell was that?!" she screamed. Yuki stopped, but didn't turn around. Kasumi stood between them. "They just gave us the scroll, and you BLEW THEM UP?!"

"She didn't blow them up—" Kasumi began, but Yuki cut her off.

"Do you honestly think they'd just let us get away?!" She exclaimed, turning around. "There are advantages and disadvantages to waking up early."

"What does THAT have to do with anything?!" Akari shouted. Yuki took a step forward.

"Waking up early lets us be up before others," she began, "But sleeping in lets you get more rest! So now we're tired, and they were fully charged! Do you _honestly_ think they weren't going to just come get us?! It's better them than us, and I didn't even kill them! I only trapped them!!"

Akari barred her teeth together. She and Yuki were standing directly in front of each other now, staring each other down.

"Despite what you think, Akari," Yuki hissed. "We're _not_ equal here."

"What?!" Akari hissed back.

"You gotta remember something, Akari." Yuki snapped, taking a step back. "Kasumi and I have been kunoichi _longer_ than you have. We have more experience than you, we know more than you, we've _seen _more than you—"

"At least I didn't chicken out when they offered to let me take the Chunin Exams!" Akari shouted. The forest fell quiet. Yuki and Akari's eyes locked. Kasumi gulped and looked down. She _had_ chickened out.

"Tch," Yuki began suddenly. "Chicken… out?" She whispered. "Chicken… out?!" Yuki turned around and laughed, hands on her hips. "'At least I didn't chicken out'." She mimicked. Suddenly, Yuki spun around and grabbed Akari by the collar. She forced Akari back against a tree and raised her at least an inch off of the ground. "I—did NOT—CHICKEN—OUT!!"

"Y-yuki-san!" Kasumi exclaimed. Akari barred her teeth.

"I was _INJURED_!!" Yuki shouted, shaking Akari around. "I _COULDN'T_ take the exams!!" Yuki let go of Akari's collar violently and began walking in the other direction. Then, she spun around and pointed at Akari. "You don't GET IT, do you?!" she exclaimed. "This isn't a GAME!!"

"Y-yuki—!" Kasumi shouted again.

"Let me finish, damnit!!" Yuki screamed. Kasumi seemed to shrink a little. "There was NO way I was going to take the exams being INJURED!! You're in perfect health and you've almost gotten yourself killed _THREE_ times!!" She barred her teeth. "I had to save your sorry ass when we were fighting the Demon Brothers because you wanted to _'try something'_, you FELL off of a BRIDGE when the rest of us were fighting for our lives, and then, you met that Gaara guy and HE almost killed you! You wouldn't BE here right now if I hadn't saved you a _million_ times!!"

Akari said nothing. She was just staring at Yuki. Yuki balled her hands into fists and growled. It sounded… _inhuman_. Yuki turned and started walking again. Kasumi walked over to Akari.

"I…" she began, "Yuki…san…"

"I-it's fine…" Akari said, still staring in Yuki's direction.

"We have both scrolls." Yuki said suddenly, not stopping. "So let's get to the tower… Before something _else_ happens."

* * *

The Haijin Shinobi—Toami, Issui, and Mamoru—had gotten their scroll fairly quickly. They took their time through the forest, heading towards the tower.

Mamoru led the way, arms crossed. Toami and Issui walked a few feet behind him, cautiously. They were terrified of him, and had good reason. Already, the blue-striped boy had killed a squad of three, one of the shinobi's summons, and two huge snakes, yet he didn't even have a scratch on him.

"Hurry up…" Mamoru said, glancing over his shoulder at his 'teammates'.

"W-we're comin'…" Issui said, gulping. Toami held their scrolls tightly in her hands.

Soon, the three Haijin Shinobi reached the red tower. Toami took a deep breath, glancing up at it. "I-It's pretty big…" She said.

"Yep." Issui said. Mamoru started walking up the stairs. "O-oi, Mamoru, w-wait for us!"

Mamoru said nothing, and continued on.

* * *

In a matter of hours, the Rookie 12 (now including Akari's group), Team Gai, Gaara's team, a team from the Sound Village, another Konoha team, and the Haijin team stood in the lobby of the large red tower in the middle of the Forest of Death.

Yuki was by herself, leaning against the wall in the corner of the room. Gaara's team was standing a few feet away. Gaara kept eyeing Yuki, as if contemplating on whether to challenge her now or not. But then, he and his team walked away.

Sasuke managed to get away from Sakura and Ino and walked over to the wall Yuki was leaning on. Yuki glared at him. Sasuke said nothing. He just stared at her. His hand was covering his shoulder and he looked in a little pain.

Kasumi had gone to get a drink. While she was gone, Naruto came over to Akari. She was sitting against the wall opposite of Yuki. Naruto sat down next to her and smiled.

"You guys made it!" He exclaimed. Akari nodded sadly.

"Y-yeah…" she mumbled. Naruto suddenly looked worried.

"Wh-what's wrong?" He asked. Akari sighed.

"Nothing… Naruto…" she said. "…I…it's just…" she pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged them. "I'm useless…"

"No you're not!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Yes, I am." Akari said a little sternly. "Yuki and Kasumi did everything in the forest! You should've seen them! All I did was get attacked and watch them fight! I couldn't even get food without messing everything up!" She sighed. "And… to top it all off…"

Akari glanced at Yuki. Naruto noticed and looked as well. "Are you guys…?"

"Please, just don't ask." Akari said, resting her head on her knee.

Suddenly, the doors of the lobby flew open and another proctor ushered the genin into a large arena. The Hokage was standing in the front. The genin all lined up according to their team. Yuki stood in front, Kasumi in the middle, and Akari stood in the back. She didn't want to face Yuki now. After all, she was right about what she'd said.

"Congratulations." The Hokage began once everyone was in the arena, "You have all passed the second exam!"

Everyone seemed to get excited—everyone except Yuki and Akari that is. Suddenly, a proctor stepped up and whispered something in the Hokage's ear. The Hokage nodded and the proctor walked in front of the genin.

"Sorry about this but," He began coughing violently, "we'll have to do a preliminary round before anything else happens." A few people groaned. "There are—" Violent cough, "too many of you—" another violent cough, "for the exams…" The proctor cleared his throat. "So if you feel you aren't—" Cough, "up to the challenge—" Cough, "step out now…"

A gray haired man from the other Konoha team raised his hand and exited quietly. Naruto protested, but he still left.

The proctor—seeing that no one else was going to give up—nodded and a screen behind him lit up. Names randomly began flashing until finally they stopped.

"And the first match is between… Uchiha Sasuke and Akado Yoroi." The proctor announced. "Everyone else, go up to the balcony and watch." He pointed to the walls of the arena. They both had small balconies.

The genin all began to walk to the balcony. The Sand, Sound, and Haijin teams went to one side, and the Konoha teams went to the other. But there was obvious tension among them.

* * *

Sasuke's match ended quickly. He won. He had kicked the other guy into the ground so hard it made a small hole. The screen lit up again and the names began to scroll.

The next match—Shino's—wasn't very exciting. Akari had stuck her headphones in her ears and began listening to her iPOD. She was sitting against the railing bars, her legs swinging freely in front of her. She closed her eyes and began to doze off.

After a little while, Akari felt a tap on her shoulder. She opened her eyes and looked up. A man dressed in ANBU armor and a mask was standing above her.

"J-jotaro… sensei?!" Akari exclaimed. Jotaro laughed.

"Hey kiddo." He said. Akari took her headphones off.

"Where've you been?!" She exclaimed. "How many matches did I miss?" She asked.

Jotaro shrugged. "I dunno." He said, ignoring the first question. "I just got here." Akari laughed. "But the next match is being decided…"

The screen quickly flashed names until two were chosen:

_Hisako Yuki_

_Vs._

_Issui_

Yuki cracked her knuckles. Instead of walking down the stairs like her opponent and so many others had, she grabbed the railing and flung herself over, landing gracefully on her feet. Issui followed soon after. Yuki grabbed her sword, but didn't pull it out of its sheath. She glanced at the proctor out of the corner of her eye.

The proctor stepped up—after coughing a little—and raised his arm. "Begin!" He exclaimed, dropping his arm. Immediately, Issui jumped backwards, performing a few hand signs. "Condensation Jutsu!!" He exclaimed.

At first, nothing happened. Yuki chuckled. "What was that?" She said. Suddenly, large bubbles of water began forming around Issui.

"My Condensation Jutsu." He said. "I pull water out of the moisture in the air and use it to my advantage!" Issui pointed at Yuki. "No, Water Prison Jutsu!" He exclaimed. The water flew at Yuki, trapping her in the floating bubbles. Yuki held her breath. Issui jumped into a bubble himself, keeping an air bubble around his head. He laughed, his voice muffled by the water. "What do you think of that, Hisako Yuki?!" He exclaimed.

"Y-yuki-san!" Kasumi exclaimed. Her eyes changed to her white-on-red kekke genkai eyes. "I-Issui's chakra is connected to those bubbles." Kasumi said.

"He's using the water in the air to connect them." Jotaro said. "Very good, Kasumi."

"Aren't you worried about Yuki?" Akari asked. "She's practically drowning!"

Jotaro put a hand on Akari's shoulder. "Don't worry, Akari." He said. "Yuki is well prepared for anything." Akari gulped and watched as Yuki struggled against the water, still holding her breath.

Yuki grabbed her throat with her hands. Issui laughed. Then, Yuki smirked and Issui raised an eyebrow. "Wh-what?" He said.

Yuki put her hands together shakily, trying not to breath in any water, and performed a few hand signs. "Lightning Charge Jutsu!!" Yuki exclaimed. Her whole body started to glow yellow. The yellow glow seemed to pulsate through Yuki's body, starting at her head, and down to her feet, over and over. Issui's eyes widened. He, the bubble he was, and the bubble Yuki was in fell in fell, dropping Yuki with it, and spilled water all over the floor.

"What now?!" He exclaimed, confidently. "I know how lightning can travel through water. You were gonna use the my own water against me, right?!"

Yuki, standing bent over with her hands on her knees, coughed up some water and smirked, laughing. "P…pretty much." She panted, looking up at Issui. "There's… just one thing wrong with your theory."

"And what's that?" Issui asked.

Yuki stood upright. "It's not that I _was_ going to use your own water against you," She began, "it's that I _am_ using your water against you." Yuki took a deep breath. "Look around you, Issui." Yuki said. "You're drenched, and standing in a huge puddle of water.

Issui's eyes widened. He looked around him. Sure enough, the floor was almost entirely covered in water. "N-no!" He exclaimed.

"You _could_ try to lift the water off of the floor, and yourself," Yuki said, "But then, I'll still strike you down." She laughed.

Issui barred his teeth together. "If you're suggesting I give up, then forget it!!" Issui shouted.

Yuki shrugged. "Suit yourself." She exclaimed, extending her arms. Issui's eyes widened. He jumped back, trying to find a dry spot. But even if he did, he was still soaking wet. Yuki smirked. "Lightning Charge Jutsu!!" She exclaimed. The yellow glow pulsating through her body started pulsating faster until it reached her arms. Lightning suddenly appeared out of Yuki's fingertips, soaring towards the water. The water suddenly got a yellowish tint as the lightning snaked towards Issui.

Issui screamed as the lightning hit him. A flash of light erupted around him as the water on his body electrified. Then, as quickly at it had happened, the lightning disappeared. Issui fell onto his knees, and then fell forward, unmoving.

"I-issui!!" Toami shouted from the balcony.

Yuki smirked. She turned to the proctor and nodded. "He's done, so I'm done." She said, walking towards the stairs.

Akari's eyes were wide and her mouth was slightly ajar.

"Y-yeah! Way to go Yuki-san!" Kasumi exclaimed as Yuki joined her team on the balcony.

"Excellent job, Yuki." Jotaro said.

"Thanks." Yuki said, "It was easy."

Akari bit her lip. "Congrats, Yuki." She said. Yuki raised an eyebrow and smiled.

"Thanks." She said, holding her fist out. Akari raised her own fist and punched Yuki's gently.

* * *

Four matches later, Temari, Shikamaru, Naruto, and Neji had advanced. The proctor walked to the middle of the arena and coughed a few times. He had a clipboard in his hand. "Just to clarify," He began, "so far, the genin advancing are Uchiha Sasuke, Aburame Shino, Kankuro, Hisako Yuki, Temari, Nara Shikamaru, Uzumaki Naruto, and Hyuga Neji." And he coughed again. The screen lit up and began to scroll.

Akari gulped. She and Kasumi hadn't been chosen yet. Akari balled her hand into a fist and glanced over at Kasumi and Yuki. Kasumi would probably suck her opponent dry of his or her chakra with her kekke genkai, and Yuki… Well, she was self-exclamatory.

But Akari… If she didn't make it… she'd be proving Yuki right.

'No…' Akari thought, 'I'll make it. I'm going to advance!' She glanced up at the screen. 'I'm gonna—!'

Akari froze in her spot. She squeezed the railing, her jaw hanging open. Suddenly, she felt a hard pat on the back. Naruto was standing next to her with his arm around her shoulders.

"Good luck Akari!" He exclaimed. Akari was still staring up at the screen…

_Zokusei Toami_

_Vs._

_Akari_

The Haijin kunoichi eyed Akari curiously. She grabbed onto the railing, like Yuki had, and jumped over onto the arena floor below. Akari gulped and headed for the stairs.

Akari walked to the middle of the arena floor and stood in front of Toami. The white-haired girl snickered at Akari. The proctor coughed a few times and raised his arm.

"The battle between Akari and Zokusei Toami," He said, dropping his arm, "Begin!"

**Holy crap that was long!! but you guys need a couple long chapters, right? Although, the next one is probably gonna be short… Ah well.**

**Please Review and let me know what you think!!**

**The New Kid Fact #3**

**Before I added Toami, Issui, and Mamoru, Akari, Yuki, and Kasumi were going to fight Grass Village Ninja.**

**The order was also changed.**

**It was supposed to be Kasumi, Yuki, and then Akari.**

**But I changed that recently.**


	12. Part 2 of Prelims: Akari vs Toami

**Three chapters in one day? Am I crazy? No, I just have too much time today… I think three is enough… enjoy!**

_Last Time:_

_Akari walked to the middle of the arena floor and stood in front of Toami. The white-haired girl snickered at Akari. The proctor coughed a few times and raised his arm._

"_The battle between Akari and Zokusei Toami," He said, dropping his arm, "Begin!"_

Chapter 12

"Come on Akari!" Naruto called. "You can do it!"

"Y-yeah!" Kasumi chimed in. Akari took a deep breath.

From the balcony, Naruto, Kasumi—Sakura occasionally—Jotaro, and Rock Lee (for some reason) were cheering Akari on. Lee had moved over with the others and began cheering.

"Your friend seems to be a little nervous." He said to Kasumi. She bit her lip.

"Y-yeah," She said, "looks like it…" Lee smiled and held his fist up.

"Yosh!" He exclaimed. "Then we shall cheer her on until the end!" He paused. "What is her name?" He asked.

"You don't even know?!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Akari!!" Naruto shouted. "You can beat this girl!!" Lee got the message and nodded.

"Akari-chan! Show her the power of your youth!!" He exclaimed. The others turned and raised an eyebrow. Akari tried not to turn around, fearing she'd be letting her guard down, but she smiled.

Toami scoffed. "Teammates cheering you on?" She said sarcastically. "Tch…" Toami pressed her hands together ad performed a few hand signs. Akari watched her cautiously. Toami smirked, digging her hands into her pocket. She pulled out some wire and threw it out in front of her. "Wire Net Jutsu!" She exclaimed.

Suddenly, the wire seemed to come alive, growing huge in seconds. It flew towards Akari, weaving together to form a net. Akari gasped and dove to the side. The net barely missed the ground and flew at Akari again. Akari's eyes widened and she continued to dodge.

Toami laughed. "Is that all you've got?!" She exclaimed. She pulled more wire out of her pocket and threw that at Akari as well. "So the cat and mouse game begins!" Toami exclaimed as her wire nets chased after Akari.

Kakashi came walking over to Jotaro. "Hey." He said.

"Hi." Jotaro said, still facing the arena, hands gripping the railing tightly. He still had his mask on, so it was hard to tell he was looking at Kakashi or not. "What's up?"

"…You're student…" Kakashi began, "Hisako Yuki… When we were in the Land of Waves, and I've noticed it more now…" He trailed off, looking for the right words.

"She's special, Yuki is." Jotaro said. Kakashi turned to him and raised an eyebrow. Jotaro shrugged and laughed. "That's all I can really say."

"Jotaro." Kakashi said seriously, "In her match, when she summoned her lightning, I sensed two chakras, both of them radiating off of that girl." Jotaro said nothing. He only sighed. Kakashi sighed as well and shook his head. "Well, what about Akari?"

"What about her?" Jotaro asked.

"Do you think she'll be able to take down that girl?" Kakashi asked, looking down at Akari. She kept dodging Toami's nets, occasionally throwing a kunai or shuriken at them, with no effect.

Jotaro sighed. "She'll do fine." He said. "Even though I haven't had her for very long…" His voice trailed off. "In fact, I think you've had her more than I have." He paused. "I was assigned this team because I had the right… qualifications."

"What do you mean?" Kakashi asked. Jotaro scratched his chin.

"Hmm…" He began, "What _do_ I mean…? Aha, maybe… Well, it's like this…" He took a deep breath. "One of the reasons Yuki was held back from taking the Chunin Exams last year was because of an injury, yes, but… there was another, more important and… a much, much better reason… that I can't tell you. But it was jeopardizing the team's safety. So she was held back."

"What?" Kakashi asked.

Jotaro sighed, "I can't go into detail… Yuki… doesn't entirely know why she was held back… which is probably a good thing." Kakashi glanced over at Yuki. She was staring down at Akari and Toami, eyes half closed. "I was also put on this team because of Akari… She… well, the Hokage thought it would be good if she had someone with my… 'Experience in this field' as he put it." Jotaro unconsciously lifted his hand to his shoulder and placed his hand on his upper arm.

Kakashi knew he had some kind of tattoo or something on his arm, but no one knew what it was exactly.

"But to answer your question more precisely, Kakashi," Jotaro continued. "I think she has what it takes to beat this Toami girl… because, even though I didn't get to train with her long, I did teach her…" Jotaro noticed Kakashi glance at him curiously. He laughed. "Well, just watch."

Akari dodged Toami's net for what seemed like the millionth time before glancing up at her friends. She spotted Jotaro and gulped. He was giving her the thumbs-up and he was nodding. Akari took a deep breath and nodded back.

"Pay _attention_!!" Toami screamed. Akari turned just in time to see both of the girl's nets come soaring towards her. Akari screamed as the wire pinned her down, completely covering her entire body in a huge sphere of wire. Toami walked over to the wire ball and laughed.

"A-akari!" Naruto and Kasumi exclaimed. Yuki's eyes widened, her grip on the railing tightening.

"Do something…!" Yuki whispered. "Akari!"

Toami snickered and turned towards the proctor. "It's over." She said.

Suddenly, Toami's wire ball began to deform. Smoke began to seep through the small cracks in the wire. Toami took a step back.

"Wh-what?!" She exclaimed.

Kakashi shot Jotaro a questioning look. "You taught her _that_ jutsu already?" He asked. Jotaro laughed.

Suddenly, a large slash appeared in the wire ball. A huge, white and black striped paw pushed its way through the slash and a loud roar rang out. In seconds, the wire ball was torn apart as three other paws slashed through it. Akari emerged, riding on top of a huge white tiger.

"Summoning Jutsu." Kakashi and Jotaro said at the same time.

Akari, panting, smiled. "I did it…" She whispered. The tiger snarled at Toami, stepping out of the remains of the wire ball. Akari slid off of the tiger and crossed her arms. "Meet Aiko, Toami." She said. Toami's eyes widened and she took another step back. Akari snickered. "Go get her, Aiko!!" She shouted.

The massive tiger roared and ran at Toami. Toami screamed as Aiko knocked her down and stood over top of her. "I give! I GIVE!!" She screamed. Aiko growled, staring Toami down, but didn't touch her.

"Winner, Akari!" The proctor exclaimed. Aiko stepped off of Toami and pranced over to Akari. Akari jumped into the air and cheered.

"I won!" She exclaimed. Aiko ran at Akari and circled her. The tiger suddenly slipped its head between Akari's legs and Akari slid onto its back. Aiko purred.

"Well what do you know…" Kakashi said, sighing.

"I told you she could do it." Jotaro said, giving Kakashi the thumbs-up.

Aiko ran up the stairs with Akari on its back. Naruto slammed into the wall, shaking. "Y-you have a t-tiger?!" He exclaimed. Akari laughed.

"Y-yeah, did I forget to mention that?" She laughed. "She won't hurt you." She said.

"_She_?!" Naruto exclaimed. Akari slid off of Aiko's back and the tiger walked up to Naruto. She licked Naruto and sat down in front of him.

"Akari-chan!" Lee exclaimed. "I knew you could do it!"

"Th-thanks!" Akari exclaimed. Kasumi ran over to Akari and congratulated her as well. Yuki offered her fist out and Akari punched it, like they'd done earlier.

"Nice job, Akari." Yuki said. Akari smiled.

"Thanks." She said. "Looks like Team Nine is going to the next round!" The screen began scrolling names again.

"W-wait, I haven't fought yet." Kasumi said. Akari scratched the back of her head.

"Well, I know," She began, "but there's no doubt you're gonna do great." Kasumi smiled. "I mean, especially with that Chakra Drain Jutsu thing you did."

"You really think I'll win?" Kasumi asked.

"You bet." Akari said. Yuki smiled at the two of them and then turned towards the screen. The names stopped scrolling. Yuki's eyes widened and she took a step back. Akari noticed. "Hm, Yuki?" She began, "What's wrong?" Akari and Kasumi looked over at the screen.

"Oh… my God…" Yuki managed.

_Hideki Kasumi_

_Vs._

_Mamoru_

**Dun dun dun! I'm not happy about how short this is, but I think it's ok for now. Especially since I gave you guys THREE chapters!**

**Please Review!!**


	13. Part 3 of Prelims: Kasumi vs Mamoru

**It's been a while since I updated, but I got some things straightened out, and now I'm back!! :D**

_Last Time:_

"_You really think I'll win?" Kasumi asked._

"_You bet." Akari said. Yuki smiled at the two of them and then turned towards the screen. The names stopped scrolling. Yuki's eyes widened and she took a step back. Akari noticed. "Hm, Yuki?" She began, "What's wrong?" Akari and Kasumi looked over at the screen._

"_Oh… my God…" Yuki managed._

Hideki Kasumi

Vs.

Mamoru

Chapter 13

Yuki bit her lip. "That guy…" She began, "Mamoru…" She paused for a moment. "Kasumi," She finally said, "Just be careful, ok?"

"…I-I will." Kasumi said worryingly. Just before she was about to walk down to the arena, the arena door opened ever so slightly and three hooded figures ran inside—Two of them were small enough to be ten year olds, while the other was significantly taller. The three of them quickly darted to the stairs; Jotaro sighed.

"Damn…" He muttered before disappearing. Yuki, Akari, and Kasumi looked at each other with confused looks. Jotaro reappeared in front of the three figures, arms crossed. The two smaller figures jumped back in surprise and the taller one took a step back. "What're you three doing here?" Jotaro asked.

"S-sempai!" The taller figure said in surprise. He took off his hood, revealing his face, which was partially hidden by a gray hat with pointed dog ears—like Kankuro's—and flaps hiding his ears. The boy looked no older than fifteen. Golden yellow eyes shone through the rim of the hat and a few strands of light gray hair were visible under his hat. "We were just…" The boy began, tugging on the gray, white, and black scarf he had around his neck. "Uh… Well…" The boy sighed and whispered something that only he, the other two figures, and Jotaro could hear.

Jotaro uncrossed his arms. "…You don't say…?" He said. The two small figures nodded in unison. Jotaro ran his hand through his hair and turned towards the arena—nearly everyone was looking at them, especially the Hokage and the other Jonin in the room. "It's alright." Jotaro exclaimed. "They're with me."

By now, Mamoru had already gotten down to the arena floor. Kasumi walked past everyone and headed down the stairs. When she passed Jotaro and the three newcomers, a chill ran down her spine. Shaking it off, she ran up in front of Mamoru. She looked incredibly nervous, but Mamoru was emotionless.

One of the two little figures with the gray-haired boy practically hipped her hood off and leaned over the railing of the stairs. "Wooooow!" She exclaimed, brushing some of her dark purple hair out of her face. "So _this_ is what the Chunin Exams look like!" She wore a hat almost identical to the gray haired boy's hat, but hers was dark red, almost brown. The other figure took a seat next to the girl and dangled his legs through the bars of the railings. He tossed his hood back and sighed, resting his head in his hand.

"This should be interesting." He said. The boy's hair and hat were nearly identical to the girl's; they looked like, and probably were, twins. "Is that the girl from the Hideki clan?" The boy asked.

"Yes." Jotaro and the gray haired boy said in unison. Jotaro looked at the boy and he scratched the back of his head.

"I could tell." He said, rubbing his finger under his nose.

Jotaro sighed. "I'm not too happy about you three being here." He said.

The boy sighed. "I didn't think you would be, sempai." He said. "But, you know, like I said a minute ago—"

"I know." Jotaro said, cutting him off. He sighed. "Nothing we can do about it…" The boy sighed and sat down against the wall, next to Jotaro.

The proctor coughed a few times and walked over to Kasumi and Mamoru. "The battle between Hideki Kasumi and Mamoru," He began, "Begin!"

Before anyone could even blink, a huge pillar of rock burst from the ground in front of Kasumi. She gasped loudly and jumped back as the rock pillar twisted and launched itself after her. Kasumi kept jumping back until she hit the wall. The pillar formed into a snake looking rock and struck at Kasumi as fast as a snake would have. Luckily, Kasumi was able to duck just in time. The rock smashed a hole in the wall and made a circle, breaking through a section of the wall a few feet over.

"Kasumi!!" Yuki and Akari exclaimed.

"Wh-what the hell?!" Akari exclaimed. "Th-that guy didn't even make any hand signs!"

As Kasumi continued to dodge the rock snake, Mamoru held his hand up, palm up, and the section of the floor he was standing on broke away, rising into the air. Mamoru clenched his hand into a fist and the rock formed into what looked like a throne. Mamoru sat down and rested his head on his hand, just watching Kasumi.

"H-he's not even doing anything!" The dark-purple haired girl exclaimed, leaning farther over the railing. "Cool!"

"No, he's actually doing a lot." The girl's brother said. The girl glanced over at him.

"Huh?" She said.

The boy crossed his arms. "First of all, you're gonna fall if you keep leaning over the railing like that." He said; his sister chuckled and sat down next to him. "Secondly, look at the rock that Hideki's dodging. It's a completely different color than the rock or concrete around here." Sure enough, the boy was right. While the entire arena was a pale greenish color, the rock chasing Kasumi was light brown and stood out from everything else in the arena.

"What's that mean?" The girl asked.

"He probably brought that with him, somehow." The gray haired boy said, answering her question. "I thought I saw him do something when the proctor was walking up to them, but I wasn't sure."

"No, you're right." Jotaro said. "Just before the match started, Mamoru dropped something from his sleeve. He must've expanded it from underground or something…"

"Whooooa…" The girl whispered to herself, completely engrossed in what was going on.

Kasumi dodged the rock snake for about the tenth time and put her hands together. "Sh-shadow Clone Jutsu!" She exclaimed; three more Kasumis appeared in a cloud of smoke and all four of them—including the real Kasumi—put their hands together in the same sign. Their eyes changed red on white, like they had in the Forest of Death.

Mamoru raised an eyebrow and held his hand up. The rock snake broke into three smaller boulders and launched at the Kasumis. All four of them jumped into the air and two of them landed on two of the boulders. Mamoru lifted his head off of his hand and glared at Kasumi.

"You're just making this more difficult for yourself, you know…" He said, brushing his hand to the side, which caused the two boulders with Kasumis on them to slam into the wall. The Kasumis disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

The real Kasumi gulped. 'I-I just h-have to get close e-enough to him t-to get his ch-chakra…' She thought. She and the other Kasumi reached into their pockets and pulled out some kunai knives. Then, they started running at Mamoru, switching places in order to confuse him.

Mamoru brow furrowed. "Running straight at me? _That_'s your plan, huh?" Mamoru stood up and held out both hands, palm down. The floor started cracking and shaking like an earthquake. The Kasumis were thrown into the air by a huge crack in the floor. Mamoru growled and sent the two boulders he'd already had in the air at both Kasumis. They hit each Kasumi square in the stomach and the Kasumis coughed loudly. Mamoru grinned.

"Kasumi!" Akari exclaimed. Jotaro took a step forward and uncrossed his arms. Suddenly, both of the Kasumis that Mamoru had hit disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"What?!" Mamoru hissed through clenched teeth. Suddenly, Kasumi appeared in front of him and Mamoru fell back into his 'chair'.

"Wh-what?" The dark-purple haired boy said, grabbing the bars of the railing. "How'd she—When'd she do that?!"

"When Mamoru created the mini-earthquake." Jotaro said, leaning back against the wall. "Kasumi kept switching places with the Shadow Clone, and when the ground cracked open, the real Kasumi jumped down into it. Then she made another Shadow Clone. Mamoru was so busy watching the Shadow Clones that he didn't realize the real Kasumi was right under him."

"T-take this!!" Kasumi exclaimed as she jumped into the air. Mamoru's eyes went wide and Kasumi grabbed his head with her hand. Mamoru immediately grabbed Kasumi's arm with both hands and gasped loudly. The rocks floating in the air from the mini earthquake fell to the ground and the ground itself instantly stopped shaking. Kasumi bit her lip and her eyes squeezed closed. She looked like she was in pain.

Suddenly, Kasumi screamed and the rock chair Mamoru was sitting on fell to the ground. Mamoru cried out in pain as he and Kasumi were knocked off of the rock, breaking Kasumi's hold on Mamoru and his chakra. Kasumi rolled a few feet before coughing and gasping. Her whole body was shaking. Mamoru on the other hand, hit the ground hard and held his head, where Kasumi had been holding on to it. His whole body was shaking as well, but half of the reason was from anger. Weakly, Mamoru stood up and let go of his head. His eye, right below where he'd been holding, had turned black on gold.

Kasumi coughed and only managed to look up for a moment before Mamoru's rocks slammed her from all sides, encasing her in a rock-like tomb. Only Kasumi's feet and her neck up were visible. Kasumi cried out in pain as Mamoru held his fist out in front of him, slowly closing it.

"Wh-what… did you _**do**_?!" He exclaimed dangerously. Kasumi couldn't answer, however, as Mamoru's rock squeezed her tighter. Kasumi coughed and a trickle of blood ran down the side of her mouth.

"S-stop this!!" Yuki suddenly shouted. "Let her go!!"

"The battle is over." The proctor said, running up to Mamoru. "Mamoru is the victor!!" For a good two or three seconds, Mamoru acted as if he hadn't heard a word the proctor had said. Finally, his head started pounding and he dropped his hold on the rock. It, and Kasumi, dropped to the ground. Medics came running into the room and Mamoru growled before walking back to his place on the balcony.

"Kasumi!!" Yuki and Akari exclaimed, jumping over the balcony. They ran over to Kasumi as she was put on a stretcher. She was completely unconscious. Jotaro came running after the medics as Kasumi was lifted and carried out of the arena.

Yuki balled her hands into fists and glared up at Mamoru. His eye had returned to normal, but his glare was still there. Yuki and Mamoru glared daggers at each other for a moment before Yuki turned away. She bit her lip and went running after Jotaro and the medics. Akari glanced up at Mamoru, causing a chill to run down her spine, and then followed after Yuki.

The three newcomers on the stairs just watched the whole situation play out. The gray haired boy sighed and pulled his hood back on. "I knew it…" He said gloomily. The dark-purple haired twins looked up at him and the boy put his hood on, standing up.

"Now what?" He asked. The gray haired boy shook his head.

"Not sure…" He said. The girl looked back at Mamoru and gulped. "Chiaki?" The gray haired boy said. "C'mon, let's get going."

The girl, Chiaki, nodded. She pulled her hood over her head and stood up. With one last glance at Mamoru, all three newcomers headed out the door.

* * *

While in the hospital wing of the arena, Yuki, Akari, and Jotaro kept hearing the sounds of the next match. Neither of them had stuck around to see whose match it was. Whatever was going on, it sounded destructive. Jotaro spent nearly the entire time talking with the medics about Kasumi, while Yuki and Akari sat next to their fallen friend. Akari got a little teary-eyed, remembering how much Kasumi wanted to advance with her and Yuki.

When the commotion in the arena silenced, Yuki sighed. "We should head back up now." She said. As she and Akari started walking out the door, more medics came running in with Rock Lee on a stretcher. Akari's eyes widened. His arm and leg were bloody and looked broken. Lee's sensei came in right behind them, crying.

"Wh-who'd he fight?" Akari asked a medic.

The medic sighed. "Sabuka no Gaara." He said, "From Suna."

* * *

Once Yuki and Akari had gotten back to the arena, the next match started. There were still remnants of the last match all over the floor, meaning sand, but the next two fighters didn't care. It was Dosu vs. Choji.

The match only lasted about a minute. Choji lost, but he was ok. The proctor called all of the winners to the arena floor. Shino, Kankuro, Yuki, Temari, Shikamaru, Neji, Naruto, Akari, Mamoru, Gaara, and Dosu lined up. Sasuke wasn't there, but he was going to be in the exam later anyway. Everyone seemed a little uneasy.

The proctor coughed. "In order to figure out who your opponents will be, you will all draw a number," He coughed, "from this box." He held up a small wooden box. Inside were little bits of paper.

The proctor walked over to Shino and he drew a number. "Six." Shino said.

Kankuro was next. He pulled out his number quickly. "Five." He stated, snickering.

The proctor walked up to Yuki and cleared his throat. Yuki dug her hand into the box and pulled out a number. Akari glanced over at her and gulped. "Ten." She said, sighing. Temari drew seven, Shikamaru drew eight, Neji drew two, and Naruto drew one. Then, Mamoru drew his number.

"Twelve." He said blankly. Gaara drew three, and Dosu drew nine. Akari gulped and drew her number. Hesitantly, she unfolded. "I-I got eleven." She said. The proctor nodded and coughed.

"So Uchiha Sasuke will be number four." He said. "You'll have one month to prepare for the exam. You'll report to the," He coughed, "Konoha stadium at nine o'clock in thirty days from now."

As the Genin walked out of the arena, Akari tried going over who was going to fight who in her head. Eventually, she figured it out—the order would be Naruto vs. Neji, Gaara vs. Sasuke, Kankuro vs. Shino, Temari vs. Shikamaru, Dosu vs. Yuki, and Akari vs. Mamoru.

Akari stopped. She would be fighting Mamoru…

**The New Kid Fact #4**

**The three newcomers in this chapter originally weren't gonna be in this at all.**

**I recently decided to include them because of something that'll happen in the future.**

**I literally made this decision like a week ago.**


	14. Please Read! Explanation!

**Hey guys! :D I'm not dead! I swear!**

**Lol it's been a while, huh? Well, the thing is, I've been writing my own original story and I've been involved in a play at school for like a month and a half, so that's why I haven't updated any stories in like… a year DX but they **_**WILL NOT BE ABANDONED!**_** I promise! So… until I write up the next chapter (cuz I'm pretty much a little stuck in all my stories, thanks to this original one I'm writing .) please bear with me! ^^;**

**Again, really sorry about the long "hiatus", but my stories will NOT be abandoned! :D**


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